There's been more tinkering and tampering than Eddie Howe would have liked this season but the Newcastle United boss simply cannot turn back now. He has his midfield three of choice fit and firing in - and he must stick with it.

Howe has been reluctant, in recent weeks, to start the PS150m trio of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton together from the outset. Yet the Magpies chief decided, belatedly, to throw all three in against the most formidable side in the top flight on Saturday and watched on from the sidelines as it worked wonders.

Howe and his coaching staff spent all week rewatching the 3-1 defeat at Fulham last weekend, hammering home to the players, in no uncertain terms, the fact they had to drastically improve from their west London showing. On that occasion Newcastle's midfield was totally overran as Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith-Rowe punished Howe for his questionable team selection.

One can only wonder as to whether the Newcastle chief bitterly regrets not trying the Tonali, Bruno & Joelinton threesome then, as well as against Manchester City at St James' Park.

The Fulham defeat saw Joe Willock start, unexpectedly, after overcoming his recent injury issues. The knock-on effect of the former Arsenal star slotting into the left-side of Howe's midfield three was Joelinton being moved to the right - where he is not too comfortable - and struggling.

Instead, Tonali has looked more than at home in that particular position and excelled alongside Jacob Murphy and Kieran Trippier down the right channel on Saturday. There was gut-busting runs to attack Josep Gvardiol in behind and selfless defensive work to try and stifle Jack Grealish at the other end.

It was up against the Manchester City winger where we saw Tonali's underrated quality. Guimaraes and Joelinton have both earned reputations as midfield enforcers who can rattle and rile their opponents. Yet Tonali squared up to Grealish on more than occasion as he refused to back down from the England international.

"I think that's how you want a player to exit the pitch, really," Howe said when asked about Tonali and Trippier being withdrawn at the same time. "I think that's the difference between this week and last week; both players had given everything they could give more, and they had to come off, and I always say to the players, 'That's how I want you to play'.

With Tonali happy to be used in Sean Longstaff's usual position, Joelinton can, in turn, occupy the left where he feels most comfortable. Bruno, as ever, sits deep and mops up any danger.

Willock and Longstaff both emerged from the bench in the 1-1 draw and still have so much they can offer this team. Neither really deserves to drop out of the side, in truth.

But Newcastle fans have spent weeks telling Howe to play his 'best team' and have watched Harvey Barnes subsequently force Anthony Gordon off the left-wing as a result. Now it's time for the head coach to follow the same advice in the middle of the park.

"It's probably our strongest position in terms of choice," Howe said of the midfield on Saturday. "Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff we rate really highly. Tonali would be right up there with one of our best performers today."

Tonali was signed for PS55m to be a starter, not a bench-warmer. He's fit, he's hungry and he's improved since arriving on Tyneside. Howe needs to keep him in the starting XI now we've witnessed the trio of choice excel against the champions.