Eddie Howe wants Newcastle United to put their EFL Cup triumph behind them as they aim to secure Champions League qualification.

Newcastle ended their 70-year wait for a major trophy by beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley on March 16.

The Newcastle squad celebrated with an open-top bus parade through the city this past weekend, but now must turn their focus back to the Premier League.

Brentford visit St James' Park on Wednesday, and with Newcastle only two points off fourth-place Chelsea, Howe wants no distractions in the run-in.

"We need to put what happened against Liverpool to the back of our minds and focus on the future," said Howe.

"We've got 10 games left, 10 great opportunities to turn our season into a really memorable one.

"Against Liverpool, we were outstanding, and that level is what we'll now be measured against."

Newcastle have lost three of their last five league matches, and Howe wants to see an upturn in consistency from his team.

He added: "Our home form has been a bit scratchy in recent weeks and we've had a couple of painful defeats.

"The challenge never stops, it gets greater. We need to be ready for the test to come.

"There's no doubting the power of Champions League football. It could be game-changing for us in terms of revenue. Qualifying is going to be very, very difficult. It's going to come down to who is the most consistent.

"There will be a confidence lift after Liverpool but you have to be careful it doesn't turn into a negative.

"We have to guard against that. This is a key moment in our season and it's how we react. We need to galvanise ourselves and ride the huge wave of positivity."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Newcastle United - Alexander Isak

Isak has scored 19 Premier League goals this season – nine at home and 10 away.

The only Newcastle players to score 10+ goals both home and away in a season in the competition are Andrew Cole (1993-94) and Alan Shearer (2001-02).

Brentford - Yoane Wissa

Wissa has scored in three of Brentford’s last four Premier League games, including both of their last two away from home.

The only player to score in three successive away appearances for the Bees in the competition is Kevin Schade, who did so earlier this season.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE WIN

Brentford had failed to win any of their first six Premier League games against Newcastle (D1 L5), but won the reverse fixture 4-2 back in December. Only in 1934-35 have they ever done the league double over the Magpies.

Newcastle have won nine of their last 13 Premier League games (L4), this after only winning five of their opening 15 league matches of the season beforehand (D5 L5).

Indeed, since the first game in this run (December 14 v Leicester City), only Liverpool (10) have more Premier League wins than the Magpies (nine) coming into this matchday.

Brentford have won each of their last five Premier League away games – the longest winning run on the road by any side in 2024-25. In the competition's history, only one side has won six successive away games in which they began the day outside of the top 10 in the table, with Arsenal doing so from December 2020 to May 2021.

Newcastle have dropped a league-low seven points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, while only league leaders Liverpool (19) have recovered more from losing positions in the competition this term coming into this matchday than the Magpies (18).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Newcastle - 52.2%

Brentford - 25.7%

Draw - 22.1%