Everything Eddie Howe said on his Newcastle United future plus Bruno Guimaraes injury update
Eddie Howe provides injury update on his Newcastle United future, plus injury updates on Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis Miley and Fabian Schar.
Three weeks on from the Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland and Newcastle United are finally back in action.
The Magpies visit Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday but that game was an after-thought as Eddie Howe faces the media for the first time since losing to the Black Cats.
Howe’s future dominated the agenda following comments from chief executive officer David Hopkinson last week, while United’s head coach gave mixed injury updates on Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis Miley and Fabian Schar.
Here’s what Howe told the media at Friday’s press conference:
Eddie Howe on his Newcastle United future
“For me, nothing's change, I'm absolutely 100% committed to the job. That commitment has never wavered from my side. I've been working during the break to make sure that we come back a stronger team.
“I think in this day and age, I think it's very difficult to look too far in the long term. I can only look to these seven games and make sure that we perform at our very best level. And make sure the players are ready for these games.And we go right to the end of the season.
“It's been an incredible season in the sense that we worked out that we hadn't trained with 20 players since August. I've never said that before during a season. So the first time we've gone back to big numbers in training, it's been a real refreshing couple of sessions for us. And it's been really enjoyable.
“I think let's try and finish the season well, that's what everyone wants to do.”
Eddie Howe issues Bruno Guimaraes, Fabian Schar & Lewis Miley
“We've had sort of mixed injury news, I'd say, during the break. Yes, we certainly looked stronger than we did going into the Sunderland game.
“Bruno suffered from mumps on his return from Brazil, so that's delayed his return, so he will not be involved in this game. I think there's probably a doubt over the Bournemouth game as well for him.
“No injury concern, more just the illness stopped him doing some key work that we needed him to do to be considered for these games. So he may be the game after, but it's important he comes back when he's ready.
“Fabi unfortunately suffered an infection in his foot. He's been in hospital having a very small operation to get that cleaned out so he won't return for around a month, we think. So that's bad news on him.
“On everybody else, we're pretty good. Lewis trained and trained well with us, that's been a great thing for us to see because we've missed him massively.