Eddie Howe has been talking ahead of Newcastle United taking on Wolves.
NUFC looking to make it four Premier League wins in a row.
The recent trio of PL victories have seen Newcastle United rise into the top six, in what is a very congested league table.
A victory at Molineux would also make it consecutive Premier League away wins for a first time this season.
At the same time, United also of course looking to bounce back from the League Cup defeat to Manchester City in midweek.
Eddie Howe speaking at his Newcastle United pre-match press conference ahead of facing Wolves at Molineux:
“Wolves are in a better place.
“Statistically they have been a bit of an outlier. I think that they have been unlucky not to have more points.
“From our perspective, we don’t underestimate anybody. We need to make sure that mentally we are in the right place.
“This is such an important game and we can’t take anybody lightly.”
Eddie Howe on the midweek Carabao Cup semi-final first leg defeat:
“I think there was a bit of fatigue in the Manchester City performance, whether that was physical or mental after the 120 minutes (against Bournemouth in the FA Cup). I know not everyone played those minutes but having watched the game, I don’t think that was us at our physical best.
“Now it’s a case, between that game and the Wolves game, of really trying to freshen the players up and try to get to our absolute best.
“This is a massive game in our Premier League season. We’ve built some momentum and we want to continue that as long as we can.”
Eddie Howe on Joelinton’s form:
“He’s such an important player for us.
“You see Joey at his snarling, aggressive, confronting best – I think that’s when he’s in his best mental place. There’s a fine line, we don’t want him sent off, but he plays with that edge to his game.
“We’ve seen a solid return from him since he’s come back from his last injury. He had to be patient, but I think you’ve seen his qualities and how important he is. When he’s there, we look a better team in my opinion.”
Eddie Howe on Fabian Schar:
“He had a successful surgery yesterday which is great news. Everything went according to plan.
“It’s difficult to give a definitive but I think around three months out will be the diagnosis we’ll work towards. If it’s any quicker then great, but we need to give Fabian time to recover.”
Eddie Howe on Dan Burn and Will Osula, as they look to become available again for the matchday squad:
“They are both getting closer.
“Will hopefully will be training imminently – we’ll then have to make a decision on when we can involve him in a matchday squad.
“Dan is improving. He’s running which is a really good thing. His fitness will be OK, it will just be managing the pain of his injury.”
Eddie Howe on Jacob Murphy:
“Jacob has had another scan and again, nothing is showing, which is a strange one.
“You have to go on the symptoms and how the player feels. That will probably mean a period that Jacob has to come out [of the matchday squad].
“How long, I don’t know, but we’re thankful it’s not a serious problem and hopefully one we can overcome quickly.”