Eddie Howe happy with Sandro Tonali's first game in 10 months

Eddie Howe was pleased by Sandro Tonali's excellent return from his 10-month betting ban and Newcastle’s Carabao Cup progress on penalties against Nottingham Forest.

Wednesday’s second-round tie at the City Ground saw the 24-year-old make his first competitive appearance in 308 days after serving a ban for a series of betting offences.

Tonali performed well during his 62 minutes on the pitch and received a heartwarming reaction from the Newcastle support before and after the 4-3 shoot-out triumph that followed a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.

"I thought he did well," Magpies boss Howe said of the Italy international. "He was involved in some lovely little passages of play.

"I thought he did well fitness wise considering the lack of match action he’s had. I think he can be really pleased with the reception he got from the Newcastle supporters at the end.

"You could see the amount of Italian flags in the crowd, that embrace with the supporters.

"A lot of emotion coming out from Sandro’s side and, of course, from the supporters’ side back. That connection is so important for any player, and he will be hugely boosted by that.

"But a great day for him, a great return and a positive result."

Tonali was involved in the move that led Joe Willock to open the scoring after just 18 seconds on the banks of the Trent, where home debutant Jota Silva levelled early in the second half.

Newcastle ended the tie strongly and reacted well to Carlos Miguel saving Joelinton’s spot-kick, with Sean Longstaff wrapping up penalties progress after Ibrahim Sangare and Taiwo Awoniyi missed for Forest.

The reward is a third-round tie away to Ipswich's surprise conquerors AFC Wimbledon and the only negative on Wednesday night was a potentially-serious injury