Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe will make no apologies for targeting cup glory while they continue to battle in a difficult Premier League campaign.
Newcastle face Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday after seeing their dreams of defending the Carabao Cup they won last season, which ended a 70-year wait for domestic success, ended by Pep Guardiola’s side at the semifinal stage.
Like City, they are still alive in the Champions League — they face Barcelona on Tyneside in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash on Tuesday — but are currently languishing in 12th place in the league table, 12 points adrift of the top four with just nine games to play.
Asked if the FA Cup is now their best chance of securing European football next season, head coach Howe said: “Yes, possibly.
Newcastle have been inconsistent in the Premier League this season. Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
“We just want to try to win. Yes, there are by-products behind winning and advancing in various competitions, but I don’t think we can look at it that way. We want the glory of trying to win a trophy.
“The hard bit is navigating the rounds to get there, and there is none harder than this. We’ve been given the hardest tie we could have been.
“The players’ mindset has been to try and win every game. I’ve been criticised previously for taking the cup seriously, this season especially because people have felt it’s given us too many games. But that’s the way we have to be when representing this club.
“We will have the same attitude again and will try to win the game and see where it takes us.”
Saturday’s game represents the fifth time the Magpies and City have gone head-to-head this season, with Newcastle winning 2-1 in the league at St James’ Park but losing each of the subsequent three encounters, the League Cup double-header and last month’s reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium.
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Guardiola has on more than one occasion engaged one of Howe’s players in deep conversation after the final whistle in a game, although the 48-year-old insists he is relaxed about that.
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“That’s something Pep does with lots of players, it’s not personal to us. He’s a football man and he has different relationships with different players,” Howe said.
“I really respect Pep, what he does, how he coaches. His teams have been fantastic for the Premier League and fantastic for football, really.
“I think he is a revolutionary and that [speaking to opposition players] is just part of his psychology. I don’t know what those conversations are about. I don’t spend any time investigating what they are about either.”
Newcastle will be without the suspended Jacob Ramsey, who was sent off during Wednesday evening’s dramatic league victory over Manchester United, but striker Nick Woltemade could return from illness while full-back Tino Livramento is close to full fitness after a hamstring injury which has sidelined him for almost two months.