Eddie Howe has been speaking to the press this morning ahead of Sunday’s clash with Wolves at St James’ Park.
He kicked off with a positive update on the fitness front, confirming that Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes are both fit and ready to play. Schar missed out at Man City through concussion while Bruno was nursing an ankle injury, but both have trained.
Howe revealed there’s a few ‘minor knocks’ from last weekend’s game without revealing who, while Alexander Isak is in a ‘good place’ and ‘feeling good.’
The boss has also confirmed that we will be going on a warm-weather training camp to Dubai over the upcoming international break (after next week’s trip to Nottingham Forest) and remained positive about our Premier League hopes despite our recent slump.
He feels it’s a ‘huge positive’ that we’ve only lost to Man City and Liverpool all season, insisting our European ambitions are ‘still in our hands’ – urging his players to stay strong mentally and ‘believe’ things will change after one win in our last eight league games. See the quotes in full below:
Howe on Schar, Bruno and any other knocks:
“He’s [Schar] trained well this week and we’re pleased to see him back.
“We’ve had some minor knocks after the Manchester City game, we hope nothing too serious.
“He (Bruno) is fine. He was sore initially against Manchester United but he was back training no problem.
Howe on Alexander Isak:
“I’d say Alex is in a good place. It is the most consistently he’s trained since he’s been with us. So I’m not 100 per cent sure on how many weeks that is, but certainly that rhythm and that feeling is good.”
Howe on Dubai training camp:
“That is the current plan. I think we’ll have quite a few players away [on international break]. So I think it’ll be quite a small group. But that is the plan that we currently have.
“It’s a way for the lads to not just work but talk in a different environments and it does stimulate new friendships. I’m a firm believer in these periods you have away, new friendships can form and it can bring the group closer. So I think there’s natural benefits which really help the team.”
Howe on only losing to Man City and Liverpool this season:
“If you’d said that to us at the start the season, you’d definitely have taken that. I mean, it’s a huge positive for us. Now we have 14 games. And we need to try and maximize every single one of those games and it’s still in our hands. We’re still capable of doing anything we want to do from this point of the season.“
Howe on upcoming games against Wolves and Forest:
“They’re two big games because of where they’re situated with the international break. We want to go into that break in a really good moment. We’re determined to end this run of games in a confident way.
Howe on our form after one win in our last eight league games:
“Through every season there are difficult moments and there are patches where you don’t win the games maybe you should. That’s the time, I believe, you have to be really strong mentally and know it will change.“
