Eddie Howe has urged Nick Pope not to give up on his dream of playing in the Carabao Cup final – insisting it will be a fair fight for the gloves on the big day at Wembley.
The 32-year-old goes into the game against Liverpool amid a narrative of missing out on the last Wembley showpiece due to an unfortunate suspension timed just before the clash against Manchester United. This time, he goes into the run-in towards the final free from the sin bin but with Martin Dubravka ahead of him on merit after the Slovakia star performed well during the ex-Burnley’s man knee injury.
When asked if he still has a chance of facing the Reds at Wembley, Howe told Chronicle Live: “I think with Nick you can’t focus on the future. You can’t focus on the games coming up, you can only focus on the here and now.
“His job is to try to train to the best of his abilities every single day. In my experience in football, if you do that, good things happen.”
Howe sat all of his players down for individual meetings last week during the aftermath of the 4-0 thrashing at Manchester City. Their first half performance was branded “pathetic” by leading BBC pundit Alan Shearer while the manner of the defeat was analysed to the nth degree.
When asked if he had any advice for players coping with the amount of off-field chatter, Howe said: “It is difficult because I don’t know what individuals immerse themselves in. What sort of media they use.
“I can only control how I speak to them and what directives I give them. I try to be very honest. I try to give regular feedback, I believe in communication with the players, at least then I believe I am one of the most important people to them.
“I am working with them every day and trying to get the best out of them. I think honest feedback is really important. What other stuff they take in, I would advise them to keep it to an absolute minimum. That is up to them.”
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