Eddie Howe has been speaking to the press this morning ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup clash with Cambridge at St James’ Park, touching on a range of big talking points ahead of the game.
He’s ‘confident’ more signings will arrive following Kieran Trippier’s £12m move to Tyneside today, but insists he can make ‘no promises’ – despite being eager to have more through the door in time for next week’s must-win clash with Watford.
Howe has also talked highly of our new recruit, believing the England international will add a huge amount to the club; both on and off the pitch (see his comments in full below).
On the injury front, the NUFC boss confirmed that Isaac Hayden will be out for 10 weeks following knee surgery, with him also revealing that Callum Wilson is set for a scan today to determine how long he will be missing.
He’s also confirmed that there’ll be no one leaving the club anytime soon, as the ongoing Covid and injury situation at the club has left us with several players missing for tomorrow’s FA Cup clash and limited numbers in training.
Here’s what Howe had to say in full about all of the above:
Eddie Howe on Kieran Trippier:
Eddie Howe on other signings:
“I’m confident but we’re in the hands of clubs selling players, agents, players wanting to come.
“It looks simple from the outside but it’s very different from the inside.
“We don’t have a blank cheque. There’s no guarantees.
“I’m confident but no promises”
“Ideally (additions before Watford), but the match is only a week away so I don’t know.”
Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson’s injury:
“We don’t have a clear diagnosis at the moment.
“He’ll have another scan very shortly to determine exactly how long he’ll be out.
“Depending on those results it could impact what we do [in the transfer market], but it is the toughest position to recruit.
“The quality there is very short on the ground.”
“First and foremost my thoughts are with Callum.
“I hope his injury isn’t serious and we can get him on the pitch as soon as possible because we know how important he is for us.”
Eddie Howe on Isaac Hayden’s injury:
“It’s a long-standing knee problem. The injury was sustained last season.
“He’s been playing with that for the benefit of the team while not 100%, but it came to the point where the pain was getting too much.
“I anticipate he’ll be out for around ten weeks.”
Eddie Howe on the COVID situation at the club:
“We’re going to be affected by Covid this weekend – there’ll be players missing that would have been involved.
“With the injuries we have as well, it’s affecting the squad depth.”
Eddie Howe on outgoings:
“No-one is close to leaving.
“We‘re working with a very small squad at the moment because of a mixture of injuries and Covid, which is still impacting what we’re able to do.
“Training numbers have been low – so that’s why no-one will be leaving, currently.”
Eddie Howe on tomorrow’s FA Cup clash with Cambridge:
“We need to win. I’ve made that very clear to the players in our preparation.
“For me there’s no balancing act between anything other than trying to give our best performance and trying to win the game.
“For me it’s very clear what we need to do.”
Eddie Howe on Trippier’s availability for tomorrow’s game:
“Possibly. We’re working towards that.
“We’re waiting to be given the green light on that by the relevant authorities.”
