Eddie Howe and his players now return from their cup distraction..
Defeat to Man U at Wembley ensuring that Newcastle United came away from the capital empty handed.
It was also the first time in ten months that Eddie Howe and his team have lost two matches in a row.
Needless to say, an away trip to play Manchester City not the easiest of games to now face.
However, Eddie Howe in great form and very positive in his Friday morning pre Manchester City press conference:
Eddie Howe on Manchester City:
“I don’t think our principles ever change.
“We’re going to need to be very good defensively and very good with the ball.
“We’re going to need to pose a threat in the game – I believe we can do that.
“Certainly we’ll need to get our foundations strong.”
Eddie Howe on the cup final defeat:
“We were bruised but very quickly it turned to Manchester City.
“I didn’t think the passion and the motivation within me could increase but I think it has.
“The passion the fans showed will stay with me and we want to return that.”
Eddie Howe on Bruno Guimaraes availability:
“Bruno is fine.
“He was in a bit of short term pain but nothing that’s impacted his training week.”
Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak:
“He’s improving with more training sessions and more understanding of what we want from him.
“He’s still probably not at his optimum but he’s getting close.
“He’s got so much to give us and he’ll add a different dimension to our team.”
Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon:
“He’s got a big part to play.
“He’s been working hard in the background because when he came to us he was a little bit short of high end fitness so we’ve done that work with him.
“I’m really excited about what he can do in the rest of the season.”
Martin Hardy of The Times:
[Eddie Howe] Damning on Ryan Fraser, who is training with the U-21s.
“I made the decision to concentrate on players that are committed to Newcastle.”
Does he have a future at Nufc?
“I’d say at the moment, no he doesn’t.”
