Mattias Jaissle expressed his newfound love for English football after Newcastle United came through an EFL Cup scare to beat Millwall at The Den on Tuesday.
Jaissle loving life at Newcastle as unbeaten start continues
Joe Willock's late goal took Newcastle United into the EFL Cup fourth round as boss Matthias Jaissle experienced a first trip to Millwall.
Jaissle, appointed to replace cup-winning boss Eddie Howe in pre-season, is yet to taste defeat in competitive action with Newcastle, and that run continued thanks to a 1-0 third-round success.
As with Saturday's entertaining draw with Bournemouth, this was not a hugely convincing Magpies performance, but Joe Willock's 81st-minute goal proved enough.
Newcastle had been fortunate to see Tairyk Arconte strike the post at the other end moments before Willock turned in Lewis Hall's cross, with Millwall actually creating two big chances to the visitors' one, although the Premier League side's 25 shots were worth a combined 1.77 expected goals.
Willock's belated breakthrough strike allowed Jaissle to reflect fondly on his first trip to Millwall, against whom Newcastle had not played since 1993.
"I love it. Honestly, I love it," the former Al-Ahli coach told Sky Sports. "Just coming out there on an evening match, that atmosphere, it's something you dream about, honestly. It's a privilege."
Rather than bow to the pressure created by that Millwall atmosphere, Newcastle won 58.4% of their duels, including 59.5% in the air, to leave their manager lauding the team's united approach.
"We're really happy with the start so far," Jaissle added. "I think we've showed unity on the pitch, off the pitch already after such a short amount of time.
"We're realistic. We take it now, we're really happy, we're grateful for the start, and now already the focus is towards Leeds."
