Eddie Howe has been speaking to the press in the last few moments ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Norwich City.
Starting on the injury front, the NUFC boss has revealed that Ryan Fraser is facing a “race against time” to play again this season.
He was initially in contention to return for Sunday’s win over Leicester, however a second scan suggests he may have to sit out of our final five games. That said, Howe says that there’s no sign of a “massive problem”, suggesting he won’t be sidelined for too long should his season be over already.
There’s no new injuries to report, but the boss has all but confirmed he’ll be making a few changes at Norwich to freshen up his side ahead of our third game is less than a week.
Here’s what Howe’s had to say on all of the above, along with his comments on reaching the 40-point mark, matching Sir Bobby’s home record and seeing the new owners have a kick about on the pitch after Wednesday’s 1-0 win.
Howe on making changes at Norwich:
“We may freshen things up.
“We’ll look at it on an individual basis but we want players that are 100% fit and ready to give their best again physically.
“We’ve had a big physical effort so we need to be ready.”
Howe on Ryan Fraser:
“No new injuries.
“Ryan Fraser’s had his second scan and there’s relatively good news in that there’s no massive problem for him, but he’s in a race against time to get fit before the end of the season.”
Howe on keeping standards high:
“We don’t want to let those standards drop…we’re playing for Newcastle.
“Not for one second will our preparation drop and our expectations of the players won’t drop.
“We’ve got to make sure the players are ready to give their all.”
Howe on becoming the first NUFC manager since Sir Bobby to win six straight home games:
“It’s a brilliant thing to be able to do but we’ve got a long way to get anywhere near his achievements.
“It’s nice to be able to have done what we’ve done to this point, knowing the great man did so much for this football club.”
Howe on seeing our owners on the pitch after Wednesday’s win:
“Great to see them enjoying the experience – owning a football club is a very stressful business. And the moments of happiness are quite rare.
“They’ve got some skills, haven’t they – they could be getting a call up soon!”
It takes a wild imagination to refer to Ryan Fraser as “NUFC star”.
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