6 days Ago By [email protected] (Ciaran Kelly)
Jason Tindall has warned Newcastle United 'can't step off the gas' without boss Eddie Howe as the Magpies prepare for the first of seven 'cup finals'. Tindall and fellow assistant Graeme Jones will take charge once again on Wednesday night when Crystal Palace visit St James' Park and the pair will also step up against fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa at the weekend as Howe recovers from pneumonia. Staff and players alike are desperate to deliver another performance that the Newcastle boss 'would be proud of' after the black-and-whites hammered Manchester United a few days ago.
In-form Newcastle could leapfrog Nottingham Forest into third place if the Carabao Cup holders win their game in hand against Crystal Palace. Newcastle also have an opportunity to move five points clear of rivals Chelsea and open up a four-point gap on champions Manchester City. The stakes are certainly high in the race for the top five.
However, unlike Nottingham Forest or, even, a young Chelsea outfit, so many of these Newcastle players know what it takes after qualifying for the Champions League a couple of seasons ago. Jurgen Klopp may have claimed Newcastle would be 'happy if we would not be there any more', as Liverpool pushed the Magpies in 2023, but Howe stressed his side did not feel 'hunted' at the time. Newcastle did not crack and instead delivered what Klopp called a 'proper knock'.
Now, two years on, do Newcastle feel like the hunters? "We've always looked up because that's where we have always wanted to be and that's where we want to get to," Tindall told reporters. "But we know we have to be consistent and deliver performances week in, week out. "We have shown that consistency recently, which has put us in the position that we are in, but we can't take that for granted.
We can't step off the gas. "We know we have got seven cup finals and we need to make sure that we go out there in every single game and perform the way that we did against Manchester United with that effort, commitment and aggressiveness to go out there and get the results that we want to try and finish as high up the league as possible." Newcastle go into Wednesday night's game with momentum and belief following five wins on the spin.
However, the Magpies now face a Crystal Palace side who have only lost one league match on the road since November. No wonder Tindall repeatedly reiterated the importance of players and staff 'maintaining standards' in Howe's absence on the eve of the game. Tindall certainly knows what Howe expects, having worked with the Newcastle boss for 17 years, and the number two said he can 'hopefully deliver the messages that he would want'.
Tindall and Howe have exchanged WhatsApps, but the Newcastle assistant said the most important thing for the head coach was to 'rest and recover and not to worry about anything other than getting better'. Whenever the time comes, the Newcastle number two is determined to hand the reins back to Howe with the Magpies in an even better position. "Of course," he added.
"That's obviously what I personally want to do and the rest of the staff and the players. They want to go and deliver performances and results that the manager would want and he would be proud of. That's our main goal and that's what we're working towards every single day, and hopefully we can do that.
“We've got a fantastic group of players, great attitude, great leaders. Everybody stepped up against Manchester United and everybody is going to need to step up and be at their best for the remainder of the season.".
