Howe’s side find themselves sitting in 12th position in the table in the wake of Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Brentford, as close to the relegation places as they are to the top five.
Tottenham are struggling every bit as badly – Saturday’s defeat at Manchester United means Thomas Frank’s side have still not won a domestic league or cup game since the turn of the year – and Newcastle could be boosted by the return of two key players tomorrow night.
Gordon, who suffered a hamstring issue in last week’s Carabao Cup defeat at Manchester City, and Miley, who has been struggling with a leg problem, have both been making positive progress with their respective injury issues and will be given a final assessment by Newcastle’s medical department before Howe settles on his squad to face Spurs.
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“Miley, I need to see today,” said Howe. “We’ll get another update on his progress. He got a nasty bang to his leg. It’s like a dead leg that’s dragged on a little bit longer than we thought, so we’ll see how he is.
“Gordon, we’ll make a check on today and see how he’s progressing. Hopefully, there’s been a big improvement in him. Joelinton won’t make this game.”
Newcastle have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions, and having watched his side ship three goals in a game for the third time in a week against Brentford, Howe accepts the need for a marked defensive improvement against Tottenham.
“I think we have to defend better,” said the Magpies boss. “In the last run of games, we haven’t defended our goal well enough and that’s cost us in those games. It’s a simple thing to say, and sometimes a difficult thing to execute, but we need to find solutions to our defensive vulnerabilities.
“In the last few games, definitely our defensive performances haven’t been strong enough, so there’s a big emphasis from us on that currently. I think if we can fix those issues that we’ve had in the last few games, then I back the team to get results and pick up points because as much as I’ve said we haven’t been clinical at the other end, I still think we’re a goal threat in every game.”