Eddie Howe faces seven-game test to secure Newcastle job for next season

• Chief executive says he has no ‘stance on Howe’s future’

• David Hopkinson ‘expects great run to end of the season’

Eddie Howe has seven games to reassure Newcastle’s hierarchy that he remains the right manager to lead the club into next season.

Newcastle sit 12th in the Premier League and David Hopkinson, the chief executive, has made plain his displeasure at the recent 2-1 home defeat by Sunderland.