Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admits the club’s supporters will be dreaming of a Premier League title challenge after his side’s 3-0 victory at Leicester City on Monday.

Howe’s team moved up to second place after scoring five goals in the first half at the King Power Stadium.

Newcastle scored three goals in the 32nd minute of their first Premier League game after the World Cup. Chris Wood scored a penalty, Miguel Almiron scored a beautiful goal, and Joelinton scored a goal.

Howe was happy to see that the World Cup break in Qatar didn’t slow down Newcastle’s progress before the tournament.

It’s been a great start to the season for the Magpies, and Howe knows that Newcastle fans, who haven’t won anything in decades, are starting to hope that this could be the year they finally win something.

“My attitude won’t change to that. I have no problems with the supporters dreaming and talking and speculating about what we can achieve and no doubt the media will, I can’t control that,” Howe said.

“The only think we need to be mindful of internally is just focus on what we can control and our own thoughts and actions and how we train and how we prepare.

“And not look too far ahead and not listen to too much news and media and just focus on our training and make sure we focus on it game by game.

“This is the toughest league in the world for a reason and our opposition no doubt will be watching us and preparing for us, so we have to be ready.”

Newcastle is in the thick of the title race for the first time since Kevin Keegan was in charge in the 1990s.

But even though Howe and the club’s Saudi-backed owners have given Newcastle a new lease on life, winning the Premier League might be too much to ask of them right now.

They haven’t won a big trophy since the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1969, and the FA Cup in 1955 was their last big domestic prize.

At the very least, Newcastle looks like it has a good chance of getting into the Champions League for next season.

During the World Cup break, Howe took his team to Saudi Arabia. He was happy with the way the Magpies blew past Leicester with a polished performance that has eluded them for years.

“I’d say the performance was up there when you consider the opposition and the game and the break and everything that has gone into to preparing for this game,” he said.

“To start in the manner we did was hugely important. Credit to the players for how they have attacked their game.

“We scored some very good goals and the general mentality of the group was very, very good after the break.

“Today was a big test for us and I’m delighted with how the players started.”