Eddie Howe admits that Chris Wood needed to break his duck in Newcastle United colours and now expects more to follow from the New Zealand international. Wood's first half header levelled the game up for the Magpies at Southampton and gave them the platform to push on and win the match.
Second half heroics from Bruno Guimaraes may have stolen the headlines, but Howe was grateful to the big target man after he pressed the Saints defence and put the hosts under immense pressure at times.
Howe said: "For him personally, it was hugely important. "For me, not so because I’ve seen what he’s done for the team.
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"He’s been a huge player for us. "He’s taken a lot of pressure off our backline and midfield, and again today, aerially he was excellent.
"He gave us an ability to build attacks in a different way. But he needed that goal.
"It was a great ball from Jonjo, and a very, very good header from a difficult angle. You could see by his celebration it meant a lot to him – hopefully it’s the first of many for him."
And reflecting on Bruno's first goal for the club Howe said: "I thought it was ‘Welcome to the Premier League’ for Bruno because it was an end-to-end game, it was high in transitions and it was a very physical match. That’s been one of our hallmarks, and we grew into the game physically.
"I think that will be a really good experience for Bruno. We made a tactical switch when we conceded (dropping Bruno a bit deeper), and I thought that enabled him to show off his best qualities.
"The goal was something we probably didn’t expect from him, but it shows his technical abilities and the eye that he has. He’s going to be a huge player for us, and I was very pleased for him."
