Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe (Image: Adam Davy)
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe (Image: Adam Davy)
EDDIE Howe dismissed the suggestion that Newcastle United might be better off in the Europa League and having a tilt at winning it rather qualifying for the Champions League next season.
The Magpies host Everton at St James' Park this afternoon knowing a victory will guarantee them a return to Europe's elite competition after a season away.
Tottenham this week won the Europa League and Newcastle would be fancied to have a good chance to win that competition if they were in it next season.
But while Howe has the utmost respect for the Europa League and the sides in it, he wants to be in the top competition next season.
"We'll play for the highest that we can," he said.
"That's always been my philosophy. We'll try and get in the best competition that we can. The Champions League is our aim, no disrespect to any other competition but that's where we want to be.
“I don’t want to come across as negative towards the Europa League because it’s a great competition. You’ve seen in the last few days what impact it can have on respective clubs. And that is not to be devalued at all.
“But I think when you have a competition which we’ve been in not so long ago and you saw the emotion it brought and the quality of games we had, the experience was second to none. That is naturally where we want to be.”
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Newcastle's fate is in their own hands today, with United knowing a home victory will secure a fourth place finish.
If Newcastle fail to beat the Toffees, they need to hope Aston Villa don't better their result.
Howe was planning to leave it as long as possible to make a selection decision on Alexander Isak, who missed last week's defeat at Arsenal because of a groin issue.
Anthony Gordon is set to keep his place in the Newcastle side today and will no doubt be desperate to right wrongs of his disappointing return to Goodison Park in October when he missed a penalty against his former club.
Howe said: "Naturally, that will have been a disappointing moment for him. He wanted to score and help us win the game.
"He was playing up front at that moment in time and I remember him playing really against Manchester City in that position. He was outstanding and scored the penalty that day.
"At Goodison he played well throughout the game but didn’t score the penalty.
"I’m always communicating with the players. If I’m not on a daily or weekly basis with them then I’m missing the ability to influence them.
"I’m always trying to influence them, whether they are up or down, to try and get them back in their optimum place. Anthony is no different.
"We have a good relationship and work hard on his game. There’s so much more from him to come and his potential is endless."