Newcastle vs. Brentford - Eddie Howe: Pre-Match Press Conference

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe spoke to reporters following the season's first international break and ahead of hosting Brentford for MD5 of the Premier League on Saturday.

Howe’s side suffered a 3-1 defeat to Brighton in their most recent game, one that has been indeed already wiped off the minds of the Magpies across the world. It’s Brentford on Saturday and freaking AC Milan on Tuesday, so the lads better get things right before it’s too late or the heat will start to get too hot to handle for Howe.

Brentford, sitting in 8th place, will arrive at SJP riding a four-game unbeaten streak albeit with just one win in that span, the same amount NUFC themselves have gotten through MD4.

Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.com

On the prospect of Botman making his return against the Bees...

“Possibly, yeah. He’s trained this week, so fingers crossed for Sven - we’ll see how he feels today.”

On the possibility of Italian international Tonali recovering in time for the weekend...

“I think he felt his thigh in training, so he’s come back in and he’s had a scan. There’s a slight injury there - it’s nothing serious or too long - but we’ll wait and see whether he’s available this weekend.”

On the two-week wait for a fixture after the defeat at Brighton last time out...

“I think I said afterward that my preference would always be to play again after a disappointing result. But it wasn’t to be, so we’ve come back here and worked well, I think, with the players that we had left with us - around about 12 players, initially. The lads have been good, training has been good, and now we’re ready for the next game.”

On midfielder Joe Willock, who is working towards a comeback...

“He’s been away - he’s been in Spain I believe the last week, a change of environment for him, a change of focus for him. He’s been pretty good. There’s obviously been a bit of disappointment there, because he’s had a couple of setbacks.

“This injury’s an achilles injury, the one he sustained originally was a hamstring injury, and the achilles came out of nowhere. Disappointment for him - and he’s such a key player for us, so disappointment for us. But our aim is just to get him back as quickly as possible and back to his best form.”

On the keys to Brentford’s success and the job Thomas Frank has done there...

“Probably a mixture of a lot of things really - shrewd recruitment would be one, (and) a brilliant coach who’s done amazing things on a consistent basis with the team. They continue to innovate as well - they’re always moving the team forward and changing things, and Thomas deserves a lot of credit for the job that he’s done.”

On the importance of Saturday’s game...

“I think it’s a game we obviously want to do well in. We know, and we understand, the game that we’re in. I don’t want to build it up any more than it is, really.

“It’s a game that we have to approach in the right way, it’s a difficult game, a very dangerous opponent. They’ve got good skills and a good way of playing, got their obvious threats, but for us, we have to return to our highest level of performance. I think if we do, then I’d back us to get the job done.”

Howay!

• Date: Saturday, September 16th
• Kick-off: 17:30 BST / 12:30 EST
• Location: St. James’ Park, Newcastle (England)