Newcastle United great blown away by Sandro Tonali reception as Joe Willock injury update emerges
There were plenty of talking points after Newcastle United's Carabao Cup win at Nottingham Forest
Newcastle United legend Kevin Nolan was left impressed but not surprised by the strong travelling contingent from Tyneside as they made Sandro Tonali feel a million dollars at the City Ground.
Nolan will never be forgotten at Newcastle after his derby day hat-trick in 2010 during the 5-1 hammering of Sunderland at St James' Park. And he knows the importance of the Geordie fanbase after spending a very positive episode of his career at Newcastle.
READ MORE: Emotional Tonali jumps into crowd and Bruno shows leadership as Newcastle hold nerve in shoot out
READ MORE: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Newcastle United highlights & reaction as Magpies win Carabao Cup tie on pens
Nolan, on commentary duty with BBC Five Live, watched on with admiration as Newcastle fans roared their team to victory. But underlined the importance of the fans' backing for Tonali.
Nolan said: "That was a tough night for Newcastle, but they have come through which is the main thing. The reception the fans gave Sandro Tonali was fantastic.
"The staff want to bring success to Newcastle. It was a big night for Eddie Howe to get them through.
"Sandro Tonali will be pleased. It will be music to his ears being booed off (by Forest fans). He has enjoyed his night and well done to him."
Lovely moment for Sean Longstaff in the penalty shoot out
The Magpies clinched their place in round three of the Carabao Cup on penalties but only thanks to some assured penalty taking after Joelinton had watched his spot-kick saved. But after that Bruno Guimaraes made no mistake before Forest jitters kicked in.
Indeed, after both Andrew Omodamidele and Ibrahim Sangare missed their kicks, it was Longstaff who had the task of scoring the crucial penalty.
Longstaff made a bit of a statement on the domestic cups afterwards and said: "There's no European football this year so the cup competitions will play a massive part in our season. We want to go as far as we can."
Joe Willock injury update
Eddie Howe looked concerned as Joe Willock was forced off after just 15 minutes at the City Ground. It may not have been so bad if Willock had not missed the majority of last season with hamstring and Achilles issues.
But this was a big dent to United's early season hopes when the midfielder went down with a thigh injury just minutes after scoring the club's quickest ever League Cup goal. Howe said afterwards: "We just hope it's not serious. It doesn't look good.
"He's feeling a pain in his thigh so we'll have to wait and see how serious it is."