NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe believes back-to-back wins signal the end of Newcastle United鈥檚 Premier League crisis of confidence.

The Magpies have beaten Leeds United and Everton in their past two top-flight games, which came off the back of a run of just one win in 20 prior to that.

And while the players had found it difficult to see out games 鈥� the last example of which was losing what looked like a crucial home lead against fellow strugglers Watford in January 鈥� Howe now thinks, finally, there鈥檚 signs of confidence flowing through the veins within the Newcastle ranks.

鈥淏ack-to-back wins changes the mood and feeling,鈥� said the head coach, whose side beat Frank Lampard鈥檚 Toffees 3-1 at St. James鈥� Park on Tuesday. 鈥漌hat we have to do at this moment is stay very calm and focused. It鈥檚 two wins, nothing鈥檚 been achieved.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e very happy with what we鈥檝e delivered in those two games but we have to focus on the next one.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always a challenge and a delicate balance with football in not getting too high or low. It鈥檚 one of the hardest things to achieve within the team,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y thought process now is very much to come back down to earth for Aston Villa.鈥�

Watford was no isolated incident, though.

United are way ahead of any other Premier League side when it comes to points dropped from winning positions this season.

The remarkable 21 points dropped having taken the lead has seen the likes of Southampton, the Hornets twice, West Ham, Tottenham, Manchester United and more ensure United walked away with less than their performances deserved.

Have United learned lessons from their early-season challenges 鈥� are they now more streetwise when it comes to the relegation battle?

Howe said: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know whether you can ever say we鈥檝e learned and conquered anything in football.

鈥淚 think what you have to do is try and learn from every experience and make sure when you鈥檙e in that situation again you adapt and improve,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ave we learned lessons from that period? Yes, but we still have a lot of growth to do in all aspects of our play.

鈥淭he confidence levels definitely have shifted for us with the last two wins and hopefully the lads are feeling much better about themselves.鈥�

One player who has, without doubt, been growing in confidence individually is skipper Jamaal Lascelles.

The club captain didn鈥檛 allow an unfortunate own goal, one he could do nothing about, negatively impact his performance in midweek. In fact, it seemed to spur him on and proved the catalyst for a towering header for the equalizer.

Lascelles鈥� overall performance saw him stand out as one of the Magpies鈥� best at Leeds and again against Everton. He鈥檇 have been close to claiming man-of-the-match but for Kieran Trippier鈥檚 heroics.

And it feels like Newcastle are now starting to see the Lascelles of old, the one under Rafa Benitez, who was scouted by the likes of Liverpool and eyed as a future England international. 鈥淚鈥檝e been very impressed with Jamaal since I鈥檝e come in,鈥� said Howe of his central defender. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen a player who really wants to do well and is very open to learning and improving and is very focused to achieve.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 produced some very good performances for us and he鈥檚 led the group very well behind the scenes.

鈥淎nd I think we鈥檝e given him some help by adding leaders in the transfer window as well,鈥� Howe added. 鈥淗aving that strong leadership going through the spine of the team and not just putting all the emphasis on Jamaal I think has been hugely important.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e been very, very pleased and hope there is more to come.鈥�