Eddie Howe has suggested that he felt tinged with disappointment despite Newcastle United thrashing Southampton by a 4-1 scoreline on Sunday afternoon.
The Magpies made the trip to St Mary's on the back of an eight-game undefeated streak which had catapulted the club into the top four of the Premier League standings.
Two of their victories during that period - against Brentford and Aston Villa - had seen Newcastle score at least four times, and they achieved that feat on the South Coast.
Miguel Almiron, Chris Wood, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes all got on the scoresheet as the visitors clocked up their seventh win in 14 top-flight fixtures.
Furthermore, the North East giants moved into third position in the table, progressing past Tottenham Hotspur and to within five points of second-placed Manchester City.
Nevertheless, Howe claimed after the win that he felt "a little flat", hinting at the chances which were given to Southampton and losing their clean sheet in the closing stages.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, Howe said: "I'm very pleased with the result, the performance wasn't our best but I'm not going to pick it to pieces.
"It was a tough game for us, Southampton dropped into bottom three yesterday so we knew they would show a reaction.
"We were not at our best but we scored four wonderful goals. It feels a little flat because we didn't hit the heights which we have in other weeks, but we were clinical when we needed to be."
With Manchester United suffering a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa, Newcastle now possess a four-point advantage in the race for Champions League qualification.
Newcastle are next in action on Wednesday when they play host to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup, before they square off against Chelsea in the Premier League three days later.
Darren Plant
