Eddie Howe has hammered home the importance of the Tyne-Wear derby.
Newcastle United were battered 7-2 by Barcelonain the Round of 16 of their Champions League tie after a 1-1 draw at St.James’ Park last week. It was a chastening result to take, but the manager made clear that his players had to put all their attention back into the rivalry against the Black Cats.
*“Now, it’s all about Sunderland. It’s not about today. It’s about learning from today, evolving and changing if we need to. But it’s about the next game and making sure we’re mentally and physically ready for what’s going to be a huge game for us and the whole city.*
“I think that’s quite a good game for us to go straight into because there’s no time for any other thought now. It’s huge. There’s no point talking about it though, we’ve just got to play. We’ve got to play like our lives depend on it. It’s such a big game for the city, for our supporters, for everyone connected with the club. We know that. We knew it before the first game, and we know it even more now. We need to deal with this very quickly and then move on to Sunday.”
Howe had another opportunity to send a message to supporters and players alike in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning. He has saluted **Sunderland**for their consolidation of topflight status, but there will be no fear when the two teams met again as bragging rights are on the line.
*"We need to regroup and, as always, look at some of the positives. I know we lost 7-2, but for the first half we were more than a match for Barcelona, it was a very even game. Our bravery in and out of possession was excellent, but of course we need to learn from the second half. The individual errors we made can't happen again.*
"**Sunderland* have had a very good season, I know from personal experience the jump from Championship to Premier League is big. I think they've handled that really well. I think we need to use the experience from the first game, all the emotion we felt which was really painful, we need to use that too.*
“The players will be in no doubt of the size of the game, reinforced by what happened earlier in the season. For any new player that wasn't fully aware of how big the game is, they will now be aware."