Off the back of major change throughout the summer, Bowen acknowledges that everyone has taken some time to adjust to the new set-up under Julen Lopetegui, but remains upbeat about how the team is progressing and believes they can reward the Claret and Blue faithful with further memories throughout the season in their quest to secure an instant return to European football.
“I wouldn’t say it [confidence] is lacking because the group we have is so good, and there is a real togetherness. It's down to me to show the new players what it means to play for this Club,” said Bowen.
“On Monday, every player on the pitch understood the assignment. The fans deserve huge credit for coming up to Newcastle on a Monday night in the numbers that they did, and we need to give them more moments. That performance was more like us, but we have to build on this and meet those expectations and standards.
“I think we should be pushing for European football every year. We had three years of it, and those are the standards and demands of this Club.
“The team has been improved, and those are our standards and what we feel like we can get to. We’ve got a very good side, a very good manager and a hard-working side that want to achieve things.
"We haven't been to those levels, but it is not for the want of trying. Qualifying for Europe should be the benchmark.”