Newcastle United have been hit by fresh injury concerns following their 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Manchester City at St James’ Park, with Eddie Howe’s first win over Pep Guardiola.
Newcastle have extended their winning run to four games in all competitions as Alexander Isak scores the only goal as the Magpies maintain their fourth clean sheet in a row.
And Howe was ‘delighted’ with the efforts of his players after a ‘difficult’ first half.
I don’t have a great record against him, so it’s nice to win, but that’s not the point,” said Howe. “This is about trying to get better in this competition. I’m really proud of the players and how hard they worked.”
The first half of the match was very difficult for us. We defended very well but we were forced to because we were struggling. The second half was much better. The team balance improved greatly and I am very pleased with the commitment of everyone.
Newcastle boss Howe made ten changes to his starting line-up from Sunday’s 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United, with the entire first-team set to be affected by a number of fitness issues.
Defender Dan Burn, striker Callum Wilson, defender Sven Botman and striker Sean Longstaff were all ruled out after goalscoring performances on Sunday.
And the Magpies could be faced with a fresh fitness issue as Isak was forced off in the second-half with a calf injury.
After the game, Howe said in The Gazette: “I hope he’s all right, he’s got a sore calf and we’re dealing with a few issues at the moment. The team is stretched and that’s why we’ve had to make changes.”
Newcastle’s next Premier League game is against Burnley at the St James’ Park. Next up is a Carabao cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a repeat of last season’s final.
