NEWCASTLE boss Eddie Howe is confident his players will produce a Champions League fightback after allowing three points to slip from their grasp in Marseille.

The Magpies had one hand on a fourth successive victory in the competition when they led 1-0 at the break at the Stade Velodrome on Tuesday evening, but 45 minutes later, they found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s double had turned the game on its head.

Life will be no easier when they return to European action at Bayer Leverkusen next month, but head coach Howe has few doubts about the character within his squad.

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He said: “This competition was never going to be straightforward for us, it was never going to be plain-sailing.

“It’s the elite competition it is

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