Joe Willock says he never "lost confidence" in himself despite struggling to recapture last season's fine run of form. The Magpies midfielder scored eight goals in 14 appearances while on loan at last season, but had not been able to break his Newcastle duck since making the move a permanent one.
The former Arsenal midfielder finally found the back of the net against West Ham United earlier this month and added another to his tally against Brentford at the weekend. Willock was full of praise for the Magpies boss who has instilled different ways of winning and has worked with the 22-year-old closely.
Willock rounded off an impressive performance from the Magpies against Brentford, with an impressive strike on the brink of half-time. The Newcastle midfielder has come into his own in recent weeks alongside Jonjo Shelvey and Joelinton in the heart of midfield.
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Speaking after the win over Brentford, Willock told NUFC TV: "You could see the way we went about it, the way we pressed, the way we were hungry - the manager said to us before the game that we're the hunters. They're above us in the table and we need to go above them. That's the attitude we came here with.
"They were unfortunate to get a red card, I know Josh Da Silva very well and I know he didn't mean the challenge. We got ahead with the two goals early on and we stuck to our task. I'm happy we can take the three points back to the Toon.
"The manager has instilled it in us [winning in different ways]. We create those scenarios in training every day. We try to work on different scenarios and the manager has instilled that into us. When something like that happens we need to get the ball wide and get crosses into the box and finish our chances.
"I thought we did that and I thought we could've got a few more. I'm happy with a clean sheet, the goals and the three points."
When asked whether his strike against the Bees was a sign of a man full of confidence, Willock said: "Yeah I am you know [full of confidence]. To be honest with you I didn't really lose confidence. It just wasn't going my way. I'm happy that - my runs, I'm getting played in now - I'm happy for the team.
"We've come so far throughout the season and come so close together. Hopefully we continue to push on. We've a great group of lads, great leaders and a great manager. Hopefully we can continue to push on and I'm looking forward to next week at home at St James'."
Newcastle have made it seven game unbeaten in the Premier League and have won four of their last five. Newcastle head coach, Howe has been the mastermind behind their revival. Willock said: "To be honest with you, I've worked very closely with Eddie [Howe] he's a brilliant manager and someone I look up to a lot. I feel like the new signings and the feel about the club has made everyone raise their game. Not only me, you can see how Joelinton is playing now, how all the players are playing now.
"To have those two players alongside me, it's a dream you know. Joelinton and Jonjo are brilliant players and I'm happy we can compliment each other. We've obviously got other boys on the bench that are really, really good as well, There's a brilliant mix.
"I feel like we're very strong in that position and hopefully we can continue to shine together and hopefully we can get another three points next week.
"I think it's dangerous to look too far ahead. We're going game by game. Obviously we have a very good unbeaten run but we need to continue. We can't get complacent. We can't look at the table too much we have to just keep going week in, week out and we have a set of lads that are leaders.
"There's a lot of lads that are injured at the moment, important players. When they come back we'll have an even stronger squad, hopefully we can continue to win games, get results and march on together."
