JASON Tindall admitted it was an "emotional moment" when he heard the Newcastle fans singing the name of absent head coach Eddie Howe.
And the assistant manager - who stood in to lead the team against Manchester United alongside Graeme Jones - revealed Howe was able to have very little input ahead of the game after being bed-ridden by illness before he was admitted to hospital on Friday evening.
After the 4-1 thumping of Manchester United, Tindall said: "I've not had any contact for a couple of days other than the one message.
"I think the team probably picked itself with recent performances, but when he was ill and he was unable to be here, he put his trust in myself and the work and the rest of the support staff to go out and deliver the performance.
“He trusted that if decisions needed to be made, that tweaks needed to be made, that we'd make the right choices and make the right decisions, and thankfully that happened today.
"He put his trust in myself and the work and the support staff to make the right calls and do what we felt was right, and credit and testament to Eddie himself for that.
“But as I say, we've worked together for a long time now and we know the expectations we put on ourselves and the group and the most important thing for myself and the players was we went out and delivered a performance he'd be proud of and I'm sure he will be with that."
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Tindall said on Friday he expected Howe to lead the team on Sunday but that changed 24 hours later after the head coach had been taken into hospital.
"Obviously, he was taken into hospital on Friday evening and was poorly, and from that moment on it was very unlikely that he would be here to lead the team today," said the assistant.
“As I say, he put his trust in myself and the rest of the group to go out there and to make the right calls to hopefully deliver the performance that we did today.
“Thankfully we did that and I'm sure he'll be super-proud of everyone."
Newcastle's fans showed their support for Howe, which meant a lot to Tindall.
He said: "Eddie is a top, top manager, one of the best there is out there. I'll stick by that, I've always believed it.
"I'm so pleased with the success he's brought. It was an emotional moment [to hear the support].
"He means the world to myself, the rest of the staff and my players and the sooner he's better and able to come back to work the better.
"I sent him a couple of messages today. He was hugely missed, certainly for me as I say, it's only the second time in 17 years that we've not been side by side and I did miss him,
“You miss your leader when he's not there, but testament and credit to everybody else to be able to step into those shoes - big shoes to fill. He's one of the best around and credit to everybody to be able to go out and deliver the performance that they did.
“As I say, I'm sure he'll be proud of that."
