Newcastle, April 1 (IANS) With the Carabao Cup in the bag, Newcastle United turn their attention towards the remaining 10 games in the league as they hope to make a dash into the top four of the table with Champions League qualification on stake. The Toons are currently sixth in the Premier League table but sit only three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Ahead of their game against Brentford on Thursday (IST), head coach Eddie Howe spoke to the media about the importance of putting the historic win over Liverpool in the back of their mind and focusing on the future.
“It has been a case of resetting and looking at our goals again in a different way. We need to put what happened against Liverpool to the back of our minds and now really focus on the future. We have enjoyed the break. We went to the Carabao Cup final knowing we had time to absorb what happened in that game. Thankfully, it was positive,” said Howe in the press conference.
“But now we are ready to play again. That’s what we do. We are still in the middle of the season. It’s been a long break. but we have tried to navigate that as well as we can with all the emotion around the game we had. But we are focussed on the next match. We have 10 games and 10 great opportunities to try and turn our Premier League season into a memorable one like the cup final. We are looking forward to it and I am hopeful the lads are boosted and have renewed confidence,” he added.
Thursday’s opponents Brentford had gotten the better of Newcastle in the earlier league game this season when the Bees registered a 4-2 victory at the Gtech Community Stadium on December 7. Since that loss, the Geordies have gone on to win nine of their next 13 league games. Howe also spoke on that game and confirmed the earlier loss proved to be a catalyst in their season.
“It was a very difficult day, that one. It was a catalyst for us in terms of regrouping and changing our season’s momentum. We went on a really good winning run after that. We had a thorough analysis of that game. We know Brentford are a good team and we played them on our way to the Carabao Cup final as well, and that was another tough game.
“Thomas [Frank] has done a really good job there. They are strong in set pieces. Their away form is really strong now and they are a free-scoring side. So it will be very tough,” he added.
–IANS
aaa/bsk/