The days of Rory Delap launching balls into the area are long gone but, according to Opta, there have been four long throws measuring 20 metres or more into the penalty area per game this season, which is more than double any other campaign since 2014/15.

Newcastle appointed a set-piece coach in the summer and after Martin Mark's arrival he sat down with Howe and assistant Jason Tindall and told of his desire to work on long throws.

"That was the inspiration behind it," explained Howe, with Dan Burn and Tino Livramento having established themselves as the takers.

"And then, of course, as you say, it's been a trend this season in the Premier League. Long throws don't work unless you have [someone], so it's good to see that we've got a couple of options.

"And we've got a group of players that sort of have a long throw, but not as long as maybe Dan and Tino, but we're working on them to try and get them longer. So we have a few more options."

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Howe added: "It gives us great variety really....