Eddie Howe insists he will do ‘everything in his power’ to maintain harmony at St James’ Park as the Newcastle manager hopes to ease tensions over the club’s transfer strategy by winning games

Eddie Howe insisted he would do ‘everything in his power’ to maintain ‘unity’ at Newcastle after their comeback win over Wolves lifted his side to third in the Premier League.

Despite growing public tensions with Newcastle’s sporting director Paul Mitchell – who served with CEO Darren Eales at Molineux – over transfer strategy, Howe insisted winning football games is the best way to cut through the noise.

“Winning is everything. I’ve never shied away from that, especially when you’re manager of Newcastle,” Howe said.

“The best way to do that is to be united – being united between the supporters, the players and the coaching staff is key and I will do everything I can to maintain that unity,” the Newcastle manager added.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe says he will do everything he can to maintain unity within the club

With 10 points from four games, the Magpies have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League campaign since the 1995-96 season, when they won each of their opening four games under Kevin Keegan. Howe admitted that such a start will do wonders for his team’s confidence.

“What shines through is the ability to find a way to win,” he said. “It’s a great platform for us. Confidence is a key ingredient in any sports team and hopefully that confidence will continue to grow if we win the way we do.”

“There’s no doubt about the quality of the players we have, although they’re few and far between, so we can’t afford to lose any of them,” Howe said.

Howe’s triple substitution at half-time sparked a second-half comeback with Harvey Barnes, one of three substitutes. Barnes scored the winning goal in stunning fashion five minutes after Fabian Schar’s equaliser cancelled out Mario Lemina’s opener.

Wolves have failed to win any of their opening four league games this season, picking up just one point, making it their worst start to a Premier League season, along with the 2003-04 season when they were relegated.

Newcastle’s comeback win at Wolves provides the perfect antidote to tensions at the club

There are believed to be tensions between Howe and club CEO Darren Eales over transfer policy

However, manager Gary O’Neil stressed that he did not want to read too much into that, given games Wolves have played against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle, and that he was proud of his team’s performance.

“I’m frustrated. There was a lot of good in that performance, but two moments ultimately killed us,” he said.

“We’ve had an incredibly tough run of games to start with. If we play like that every week, we’ll be fine. The Premier League is tough – you can play as well as you want, but it doesn’t guarantee anything,” O’Neil added.