Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy _(Image: Mike Egerton)_
RUUD van Nistelrooy shared his fond memories of “wonderful man” Sir Bobby Robson ahead of Leicester’s trip to Newcastle on Saturday.
The new Foxes boss has made an unbeaten start his reign since taking over from Steve Cooper, with a 3-1 victory over West Ham followed by a late fightback against Brighton to earn a point.
Those results have given Leicester a five-point cushion to the relegation zone and Van Nistelrooy will be hoping to continue the momentum with another positive result against Newcastle.
The Dutchman, who came up against former Magpies boss Robson several times during his time at Manchester United, also played under him earlier in his career at PSV Eindhoven.
He said: “The memory I have of Newcastle is Sir Bobby Robson. Leading up to this game, my thoughts went back to the year I had with him at PSV.
“He was a wonderful man and thinking of him makes me smile. I will go there with that thought.
“Football, he was always talking about getting better and improving. You cannot control everything. But to be a team and what it’s like to be a team.
“The sense of humour he mixed in to motivate the players. It was amazing. Fight and spirit and emotion and being the best you can be.”
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Newcastle have not enjoyed the best of starts to the season and sit in 12th place heading into the weekend’s fixture.
But Van Nistelrooy is not paying attention to their league position and knows his side will have to be on their game.
He added: “I need all my time and energy to focus on my own team.
“I looked at Newcastle and know how strong they are. We don’t focus on where they are in the league, but the potential of where they can be. It’s a great squad. We have to be spot on to get a good game.
“They’re offensive threats, with (Alexander) Isak and (Anthony) Gordon and the midfield power they have with Joelinton and (Bruno) Guimaraes. They’ve got many options and it’s a good opportunity to continue to grow ourselves.”