Eddie Howe West Ham Press Conference – The key messages | OneFootball

The Eddie Howe West Ham Press Conference has taken place.

The Newcastle United Head Coach speaking to the media ahead of Saturday’s match at St James’ Park.

United hoping to finish the season strongly, the final 10 matches kicking off with what look like two winnable home games against West Ham and Everton.

“We want to be closing that gap [on West Ham], they have done well, they are a dangerous team.

“We are back at home, we left on a good note in our last [home] game against Wolves and we are desperate to carry that on again.

This is a home game, expectation will be on us, we will attack the game in the way we know we can.

“With these [final] ten games it is an opportunity for us to finish the season strong, we are looking for consistency in results.

“We are focused on building and finding some positive momentum.”

“Lewis has come back to us [from England under 20s duty] with a back problem.

“We are seeking specialist opinion on him, we don’t know exactly what it is right now.”

Eddie Howe on Sven Botman surgery:

“A big blow.

“It’s a complex story with Sven, initially he had a partial tear [earlier on this season], we saw specialist opinion and there was conflicting reports on what he should do next.

“Ultimately, medical team advised him to get surgery, but he wanted to carry on.

“He has then aggravated that issue. He now has a long road ahead of him, the operation went well. We hope he comes back in a better place.

“Now we support him and help him back.”

Eddie Howe on the progress of Elliot Anderson:

“He is getting there, he looks stronger and more robust, he has trained well the last two weeks.

“He is a really talented player; I want to see him do well for the remainder of the season.”

Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon making senior England debut:

“It is a really satisfying feeling for me, a sense of pride.

“I have seen how hard Anthony has had to work for that moment. He has been committed, this season he has flourished, I knew how much it would mean to him.

“I thought he played really well. It was great to see him and Bruno going against each other.”

Eddie Howe asked about the Sandro Tonali statement from The FA, regarding the new betting charges:

“It was no surprise to us.

“Sandro from day one co-operated.

“He was very honest with us, with the club, with the authorities.

“On what he had done, what happened.

“So we have been supporting him through this process.”

Eddie Howe asked if he thought the ten months ban would be extended:

“The honest answer is that we don’t know.

“I certainly hope for Sandro’s sake that there are no further consequences.

“He has suffered during this period.

“He has sought help.

“He has been very honest.

“Admitted that he has an issue.

“The best thing for Sandro would be to resume his career, having taken his punishment and learned a lot of lessons.

“It goes without saying that it would be a blow [for Newcastle United] if the ban was extended.

“You can’t quantify how much we have missed him this season.

“It has been frustrating beyond belief.

“If the ban was extended then we would still be feeling that pain, so would Sandro.

“He wants to play football.

“That illness (betting addiction) didn’t stop when Sandro moved from Italy to England.

“The illness was there and people should look at it that way.

“Not let’s throw the book at him and punish him further.

“Instead, let’s get to the root of the problem.

“This is a bigger problem for society and it isn’t just a problem for Sandro.”