Eddie Howe has no concerns about how Newcastle United ended their winless Premier League run, as he saluted his players for a hard-fought win over Burnley.

Newcastle headed to Turf Moor without tasting victory in their three league games since beating Scott Parker's side 2-1 in the reverse fixture earlier in December at St James' Park.

Howe's men got over the line on Tuesday to end a drab run, earning just their second league away win of the season to move up to 10th, thanks in part to a lightning-fast start.

Joelinton marked his 200th Premier League appearance with a well-taken finish just 65 seconds in, before Yoane Wissa celebrated his maiden league start with a first top-flight goal for Newcastle just five minutes later.

Bruno Guimaraes then made sure of victory in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, shaking off any concerns after Josh Laurent's first-half volley had spurred Burnley into life.

"A massive win for us. I don't think it really matters tonight so much in terms of how we did it, we just needed to do it," Howe said.

"It was a really strong start from us, in recognition of how important the game was for us.

"I can't praise the players enough for how we battled through it. It was never going to be easy tonight. That second half was a massive 45 minutes for us.

"We needed to get over the line and put credit to the players for how they saw the game out and the character of the group."

Skipper pic.twitter.com/yNCuq02adt

— Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 30, 2025

Indeed, Newcastle still harbour concerns at the back given they have conceded in each of their last 12 Premier League matches – their longest run in the competition under a single manager since 2007.

But Howe's decision to replace Nick Woltemade with Wissa, and Jacob Murphy moving out for Harvey Barnes – who was heavily involved in Newcastle's second goal – paid dividends.

Wissa became the 25th player to score on his first start for Newcastle in the Premier League, though the DR Congo striker was far more concerned with his team's efforts.

"We needed this win, especially away from home. I'm really pleased with the win tonight," he told Sky Sports. "Away from home, there's been a lack of confidence, a lack of wins.

"We've just seen how hard it is. It's a top performance, especially defensively. I think Burnley played a top game so give credit to them. We've shown the character and mentality to win."

Marcus Edwards would have levelled when 2-1 down on the stroke of half-time were it not for Fabian Schar's clearance off the line, while Laurent was denied by the crossbar after the interval.

Edwards continued to prove Burnley's bright spark in the second half, but vented his frustration after a 10th game without victory in the league left Parker's side six points adrift of safety.

"The first 10 minutes cost us the game. We can be happy with the number of chances we created, but at this level you have got to finish them," Edwards told Sky Sports.

"We're disappointed with that, we're disappointed not to come away with points. I thought I could have scored, so I'm not too happy right now.

"We're always going to feel we've got a chance. We're not the type of people to ever give up. We're looking to put this behind us and looking to the next game and try and get three points."