'Very good' - Nuno Espirito Santo delivers Newcastle United verdict supporters will love

The Forest boss watched on as his side surrendered a 1-0 lead. Alexander Isak equalised shortly after the break before Joelinton and substitute Harvey Barnes secured a third straight win for the Magpies.

The Reds, meanwhile, lost for the only second time in the league this season but remain third in the table.

"I cannot say that was a bad performance, that is totally out of the question,” Espirito Santo admitted. “We played against a very good team that was able to control us and then hurt us in the way we've been doing [on the counter-attack]. It is a lesson for us to learn.

"I just have to recognise that today we played a good team, who were better than us in many, many moments. There's nothing to say about the players, the character and belief was there.”

Newcastle beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and Arsenal in the Premier League at St James’ Park last week. Howe was delighted his side were able to follow those up with an away win.

“Very pleased because we needed some momentum,” said Howe. “We always say how quickly football can change and your fortunes can turn so after three wins there is a totally different feel about the team. Really pleased today. An away game going 1-0 down to come back and win in the way we did is a big moment for us.

“I think there was a good look about the team today. The first-half, for me, was frustrating because I thought we were the better team but we trailed at half-time.

“We needed to be more direct with our attacking and I don’t necessarily mean parts of direct, I’m talking engaging in one-v-one duels and not turning down forward passes so I was a little bit frustrated about that.

“I thought we were much better in the second-half and I thought we were much better physically in the second-half as well. We deservedly scored the goals that we did because I thought we were well on top.”