The passionate promise Eddie Howe has made that Newcastle United fans will love to hear

Eddie Howe has expressed his determination to give Newcastle United supporters a team they can relate to over the coming years.

The Magpies boss has overseen a remarkable turnaround in fortunes at St James Park since he succeeded Steve Bruce in November.

Wins over the likes of Leeds United, Leicester City and Everton have helped Howe’s side become one of the form sides in the Premier League - much to the delight of United supporters, who have now firmly moved on from the limited expectations imposed upon them by the club’s former owner and manager.

Excitement and expectation is now at a level rarely seen throughout Mike Ashley’s ownership and Howe is determined to give the St James Park faithful more reason to cheer during his time at the club.

He told BT Sport: “I think they want a team that they can identify with and one that goes out and gives their best to win every football match.

“They want to see players that are committed to the team, not themselves.

“And they want to see every ounce of effort given to try and win a football match.

“That’s the standard we have tried to ask our players to deliver.

“So far, we have done it - but we need to do it on a consistent basis.”

Howe believes a “back-to-basics” approach has helped his side eradicate their relegation concerns.

Despite the completion of a long-awaited takeover, the Magpies were languishing in 19th place in the Premier League table and looked set for a third relegation into the Championship when Bruce oversaw his final game in charge as Spurs claimed a 3-2 win at St James Park.

Graeme Jones took control on a caretaker basis as United’s new owners conducted a thorough search for a new manager and he led to the side to two draws and a defeat during his three games in the dugout.

A 3-3 draw with Brentford kicked off Howe’s reign and slowly but surely he has helped his side improve throughout the months that followed.

Now, with just a handful of games remaining, the Magpies are genuine contenders for a top ten finish - a far cry from many pundits tagging them as relegation certainties earlier in the season.

Howe gave a fascinating insight into the process behind the development of his squad and the turnaround in fortunes on Tyneside.

“I think it was back-to-basics,” he explained.

“First thing is, we needed to be really hard to play against so we focused a lot on out of possession, clean sheets, the structure of the team, being really hard to beat and getting those fundamentals you really want.

“Also being a high-pressing team, that’s something long-term we really want to be.

“So all of those things mixed together have given the players confidence because we have been so good off the ball.”