Eddie Howe has been speaking to the press this morning ahead of our opening game of the 2023/24 season tomorrow; a home clash with Aston Villa at St James’ Park.
Kicking off with a much-needed Fabian Schar update, the boss reveals that he looks set to be available as things stand, as he’s trained this week and ‘trained well.’
The bad news is on Joe Willock. Howe reveals that he’s felt some slight discomfort on his comeback from a ‘serious hamstring injury’, meaning he’s set to be missing until the first international break, ruling him out of games against Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool and Brighton. Emil Krafth’s name also came up, with the Swede still ‘4-6 weeks’ away from returning.
Howe then hailed the signing of Tino Livramento, who is ‘fully fit’ an already impressing in training following his move from Southampton. On Tonali, the manager feels he’s settling in and adapting to life in England, saying the Italian is doing “really well.”
Ahead of Aston Villa and the 2023/24 kick off, Howe describes us as “fit, eager and looking forward to the challenge”, but accepts this season is our biggest test yet as we attempt to go again in the Premier League while competing on four fronts. Here’s what Howe had to say on all of the above:
Howe on Fabian Schar:
“As it currently stands, yes he will be available. He’s trained this week and trained well. He was back with us on Tuesday so he’s had a full week of training.”
Howe on Joe Willock’s hamstring injury:
“Joe has worked hard through the summer. He had a serious injury to his hamstring, he missed the back end of last season. He’s just felt a little bit of discomfort in his hamstring, not necessarily another pull but some discomfort. We’ll probably miss him for the first group of games before the first international break.”
Howe on Tino Livramento:
“He’s very athletic, incredibly quick, dynamic, got really good endurance levels – so he’ll be box to box – and is technically very good. He’s back after a long injury but he’s done all of pre-season with Southampton – he’s not missed a day – so he looks in a good physical condition but we need to look after him. He’s a really exciting player.
“He’s fully fit and he’s training, but it’s for us to be mindful of his load and training intensity, but he’s already impressed me greatly in training this week – an exciting signing.”
Howe on Sandro Tonali:
“When you’re bringing players in from abroad I think it’s really important you try to get them early. There’s a settling in period both on and off the pitch you need to try and navigate through so I have to compliment Sandro on how he’s handled the move and how he’s adapting to those changes. He’s done really well.”
Howe on pre-season and the 2023/24 season ahead:
“I feel we’re in a good place. It was an intense pre-season period for us. The double header at the weekend I think finished off where we needed to be. I think now we enter the season where you’d expect after a full pre-season. Fit, eager and looking forward to the challenge.
“Naturally you move from challenge to challenge and now I think the one in front of us is our biggest challenge, but we have to be excited about it. We have to take it head on. We go into a very difficult start and that’s another challenge added to it, but we’ll give it our best shot. We’ll go all in and that’s all I ask the players to deliver – their absolute maximum.”
