Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admits he is braced to make a decision that will cause deep disappointment at Wembley – but has urged those who do end up on the bench to quickly support their team-mates for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Howe does not have too many major decisions to make as far as his outfield selection is concerned. But he will be dealing with one dejected goalkeeper with Martin Dubravka and Nick Pope neck and neck to play against the Reds.
All of it is a far cry from the last Carabao Cup final against Manchester United when Howe had Pope suspended – after a red card against Liverpool – while Dubravka was cup-tied after playing for the Red Devils earlier that season. That saw Loris Karius parachuted in for his Newcastle debut.
Howe said no decisions have been made yet on who will be between the sticks this time around and he will not be holding one on one consultations. The team will learn the selection news as a group.
Howe, speaking at his Press conference ahead of the Press conference ahead of the Carabao Cup final, said: “Everybody will find out at the same time when I name the team. When that will be? I will leave that to myself, not you guys!
“The team selection for these types of games is always difficult because players will be disappointed naturally. Everybody wants to play in the bigger games. I can only pick 11.”
Speaking about the reaction he is keen to see from those who don’t start the game, Howe said: “Everyone has a role. If you are not starting the game your role is to support the players that are playing. That is just as important as stepping on to the pitch. If you don’t support your team-mates well enough it has a negative effect to those on the group.
“Personal disappointment, I understand. Then you have to put it behind you and focus on the team.”
Howe also hinted that the team picks itself in many ways, he said: “Genuinely, whenever I look at a team selection for any game, there are always decisions to make. That’ll be no different for this game because you’re always looking at the opposition and your own strengths and trying to figure out what players need to go up against certain players.
“So that’s what we’ve done. We don’t have a huge pool of players to select from – that’s pretty obvious. We have a very tight squad, and in some senses, that can help you in different moments, and that can also be a negative.”
When asked to sum up the general mood ahead of the final, with Newcastle setting off for Wembley tomorrow, Howe said: “Very good, thanks. I think it does feel different. I think the whole thing and this season’s felt different in the sense that I think we’ve just gone about our business in a really calm, controlled way, professional way, we’ve had a really tough run of fixtures in the Carabao Cup.
“I think to attack those games in the way that we did, and of course, you’re in the midst of a busy campaign – Premier League, FA Cup.
“We’ve sort of just gone from round to round and now we’ve ended up in the final, there’s been a lot less emotion. There’s been a lot less the noise I think outside.
“So hopefully that helps us in our performance in the game. You never quite know what effect that will have, but we’ve been very much focused on our build up and preparation and getting the game plan right. So I’d say that’s the biggest difference.”
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