What Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes were spotted doing at full-time last night shows this group are still focused

The general mood amongst Newcastle United fans in the last week leading up to last night's victory over West Ham United was fairly sombre to say the least.

It had been a tough week for the Toon Army having seen their side dumped out of the FA Cup by Brighton after extra time. Not only that, but Anthony Gordon was sent off in that game, picking up a three-match ban which sees Newcastle missing one of their most important players for their biggest game of the season on Sunday.

Then as the week went on, Newcastle would have to deal with the news that Lewis Hall would miss the rest of the season through injury and Sven Botman would also be facing a race against time to be seen again before the end of this campaign.

The 1-0 win over West Ham on Monday night may not have been the most entertaining, but it was that shot of adrenaline in the arm that a lot of fans needed.

Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton staged their own singalong

Expectations going into Sunday's Carabao Cup final were already fairly low given the Toon's horrendous record against Liverpool, but the way Newcastle have been playing lately was really setting off alarm bells and fans were starting to wonder if this group of players have it in them.

But then, as the full time whistle blew last night, cameras caught our Brazilian duo singing "E,I,E,I,E,I,O" and "Tell Me Ma, Me Ma" as they applauded the travelling support.

It's clear that Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton are ready for Sunday and if they carried that kind of energy into the dressing room, we're confident it will have rubbed off and spread through the camp.

Players can now stop pretending they aren't looking at the final

Now that the Carabao Cup final is Newcastle Untied's next feature, the players can start to dream and they can give Sunday's match their full focus.

There has definitely been a feeling that a lot of the squad have, naturally, had one eye on the final and making sure they're fit and available for it, which is likely why we've seen performances dip.

It's something that should become less of an issue as we continue to be more successful. Liverpool have been here many times before and it's less of a novelty for them, which is likely how they've been able to keep performances up. The more we get used to cup finals, the more we'll be able to compartmentalise as a club. Hopefully.