Eddie Howe: "We're in a huge fight to stay in this division”

boss has talked about his side’s performance in their 4-0 defeat against

, insisting that although they are in a tough battle to stay in the Premier League, that result was not a good showcase for their performance.

Howe told Sky Sports:

"We're in a huge fight to stay in this division. I was aware of that when I came in and that won't change, I don't think, throughout the whole season. We're in a huge battle. We'll need to use the pain and feeling from today to help us in our journey this season.

"Every game is an opportunity. We're hugely frustrated by some of our moments in the game. If we'd have shown more composure in the attacking third, we could have made more of the moments. We just let the game slip away from us.

"We know they have quality players and they hurt us when we allowed them space but I don't think we should lose heart from the majority of the game. We just need more of the big moments to go our way."

Despite their defeat, Newcastle players had the ball in possession more than their opposition, but they weren’t able to use their dominance over the ball to make a change in the game, and

Eddie Howe

thinks that they even should have had a penalty.

"It wasn't ideal for our situation. The manner of [the penalty] as well is one that the referee gives at the time and it's no way it will be overturned. It's a harsh moment for us. The scoreline is not reflective. Statistics show us that and my gut feeling tells me that but we have to regroup very quickly.

"It was a strange game because I thought we were OK for large parts. We were OK in the first half and were a threat at times. We conceded a goal with the penalty - which was debatable whether it was. The scoreline looks like a heavy defeat but I didn't think it felt like that at all."

Follow

for the