Howe admits NUFC stars short of fitness
They've had a mixed start to the new campaign
Last updated 31st Aug 2024
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has admitted some of his players are yet to return to the "optimum" fitness levels they need to play his high-intensity brand of football.
The Magpies have started the new campaign, scrapping their way to a 1-0 home win over Southampton with 10 men before escaping from Bournemouth with a 1-1 draw and then progressing in the Carabao Cup by virtue of a penalty shoot-out at Nottingham Forest in midweek.
Asked about the intensity needed to play the high-pressing game which has proved so successful during the 46-year-old's time at St James' Park to date, he said:
"It's something you have to protect and work towards every single day because the players can't just turn up and perform that way in isolation, it's something we hone and work on continuously.
"It is related, of course, to our fitness. We have to be really, really super-fit to deliver that style of play for 90 minutes.
"That's something, I think, we're working towards. It's no secret that we've got a group of players that probably aren't at their absolute optimum fitness-wise. But very quickly, we've got to find our best physical levels to produce that style of play."
For this weekend's match against Tottenham, Sandro Tonali is available for a league game for the first time since October after completing his 10-match ban, but Fabian Schar is suspended and Joe Willock has joined the injured list.