Howe confirms pre-January signing & new injury blow with two set to miss Liverpool game

There’s good and bad news to report from Eddie Howe’s press conference this morning.

The positive news is that Eddie Howe has confirmed that Liverpool coach Mark Leyland has been added to his backroom team at Newcastle in order to streamline our analytical approach to match preparation.

The coach and analyst is believed to be a good friend of Howe’s, having worked with the 44-year-old during their time together at Burnley.

Now to the negative news, with Howe confirming that a thigh injury looks set to see Federico Fernandez miss the ‘majority’ of our games over the festive period.

Elsewhere, Paul Dummett is ‘making good progress’ but still out for the forsseable future based on Howe’s comments this morning.

Here’s what the NUFC boss has had to say on all of the above, along with an update on the Covid situation at the club and his thoughts after Sunday’s 4-0 defeat at Leicester:

Eddie Howe on Mark Leyland’s arrival:

“Mark has joined the club from Liverpool.

“He’s someone that I worked with at Burnley.

“He’s a really good guy, first and foremost.

“He’s come in as a coach analyst so he’ll be helping us with all our implementation of training and coaching.”

Eddie Howe on Federico Fernandez and Paul Dummett:

“We’ve lost Federico Fernández through injury.

“We’re not sure of the extent but he will miss this game and the majority over the festive period.”

“Paul Dummett is still out long term, although he’s making good progress.”

Eddie Howe on the Covid-19 situation at the club:

“We all got tested today and touch wood we will all come through those test OK.

“We’re following all the procedures and protocols given to us by the Premier League.

“We’ve been happy with how we’ve managed the situation here.”

Eddie Howe on the 4-0 defeat at Leicester:

“We’ve reviewed the game, hopefully, in the right way.

“We put the players straight in the sense of how we saw the game and what we need to improve.

“We were very honest in the areas we could have done better – there’s no hiding away from that.

“Going away to any ground in the Premier League is difficult but I think if you look at the pressure we faced as the away team it was really minimal in the match.

“I think the first goal had a huge bearing on the game and the second goal came out of nothing.”

“That probably put the players in a delicate mental state in that moment in that match but I don’t see why that should affect us going into what is a different game.

“It’s a big challenge but one we can hopefully rise to.”