Howe has a couple of concernsplaceholder image
Howe has a couple of concerns | AFP via Getty Images
Newcastle United will do two assessments on injured stars ahead of their Tottenham clash.
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has provided an injury update ahead of his side’s clash with Tottenham on Tuesday night. The Magpies are in the midst of a frustrating season, currently in 12th spot and with their hopes of qualifying for Europe again hanging in the balance.
Newcastle are coming off the back of a home defeat to Brentford, and they now face a quick turnaround, heading to London to face Tottenham away from home.
Spurs have, of course, had struggles of their own, and they come into this one as desperate as ever as they look to begin turning around what has been a hugely disappointing domestic campaign.
Tottenham lost to Manchester United over the weekend, though the game was conditioned by a Cristian Romero red card in the first half while the deadlock was not yet broken.
It gets no easier for Spurs as they prepare to face a Newcastle side equally as desperate to turn things around, and they now go into this one without capatin and key defender Romero, who is suspended after that red card.
Newcastle have issues of their own, though, and they are sweating on the fitness of Lewis Miley, who is bidding to return after a spell out, as well as Anthony Gordon, who missed the Brentford game.
Howe has said in a pre-match update: “Miley, I need to see today – we’ll get another update on his progress. He got a nasty bang to his leg so it’s like a sort of 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 a big improvement in him. Joelinton won’t make this game.”
Howe on Newcastle struggles
Asked about whether this is one of his most difficult spells as Newcastle boss, Howe told the media: “I think (it is) any time when you’re not getting the results that you want. I don’t think performances have been particularly bad – statistically we’re still pretty strong in every game, but the results certainly haven’t matched that.
“It’s been a difficult run of games, it will continue to be a difficult run of games for us, but that’s where we all need to show our strength of character, resolve, resilience and our feeling of how important this is to us. That needs to show, most importantly, on the pitch.”
On everyone pulling in the same direction to turn things around, he added: “I think that if you don’t have that, you lose everything. At the moment we still have that, and that’s the most important thing. The supporters, even on Saturday, again were incredible for us.
“That’s never taken for granted, that’s never, from our side, expected. We have to earn it. We have to continue to have the respect of our supporters, and the only way we can do that is with our intention in the next game, with how we attack the next game, with everything we give off with our body language – the supporters will feed off it, and we need to make sure it’s a positive response. I’m confident it will be, and I can’t thank the supporters for their loyalty enough.”
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