Eddie Howe admits he is relieved not to be the man making a decision over Newcastle United's stadium future as the Magpies boss weighs up the pros and cons of staying at St James' Park.

The midweek win over Arsenal saw the 52,000-seater stadium at its best. Electric noise in and around the ground hours before kick-off, incredible pre-match displays courtesy of Wor Flags and a hostile mid-game atmosphere which made it impossible for the Gunners to get a foothold in the tie.

Newcastle's beloved home often produces nights like this. It is a real weapon for the north east outfit - knowing their rivals will fear coming to these parts, to face these fans. Howe even personally believes other clubs will be watching on enviously when taking in Newcastle's high-priority home games.

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However, with the club pondering an ambitious stadium move elsewhere in the city centre, fears have been raised that the 'soul' of the club could be lost by moving to a bigger venue. Newcastle, of course, have valid reasons for looking at other locations.

Revenue is the key and the Magpies only have to look at Tottenham Hotspur to see the game-changing money that can be made by building a multi-purpose venue that offers more than just 90 minutes of football. To add, the clamour for tickets remains at an all-time high, with plenty of supporters pushing for an increased capacity to, in turn, provide them a better chance of watching their side in the flesh.

All of these reasons for and against are not lost on Howe who, when asked if nights like Wednesday serve as a big reminder of how good Newcastle have it at St James' Park, responded: "I totally agree with that. I'm sure for a lot of people watching that game, not connected with Newcastle, you think 'wow' you know, what an atmosphere, what an environment to play in.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of people looking at that and thinking 'how can we create that atmosphere at our stadium' - so we're very lucky to have the facilities that we have and the supporters that we have. But of course there's other challenges and other things that we now need to look at as a football club and try to improve.

"Various things as we've said before about the importance of our income. So it is a real delicately poised decision and of course I'm not making that decision which is quite a relief, really, for me. I can blame it on someone else. But I think it's it just goes to showcase what a special place St James' Park is."

Chronicle Live understands a final decision has not yet been made regarding the stadium, with Newcastle City Council in conversation with the club over their next move. A new venue, should it be pursued, would likely mean Newcastle increasing their capacity to around 70,000.

That would see them leapfrog the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, while also increasing their matchday revenue and, in turn, unlocking more funds to put back into the club. Communication from the club on their next steps is expected in the near future.