Eddie Howe has refused to be drawn on Jack Grealish's disparaging remark about Miguel Almiron - but the Newcastle United head coach confirmed his side are 'highly motivated' for the visit of Man City.
Grealish quipped that one of the 'secrets' behind City's title-winning comeback against Aston Villa on the final day of last season was manager Pep Guardiola taking off Riyad Mahrez 'as soon as possible' because the Algeria international 'played like Almiron '. Grealish and Almiron will now come face to face at St James' Park on Sunday for the first time since the City star made that comment while speaking to team-mate Bernardo Silva in an Instagram video following the champions' open top bus parade in Manchester last May.
Although Howe, understandably, did not want to react to what Grealish said, the Newcastle boss was asked if he was adverse to ever using such utterances to motivate his players even further for what is already a huge match against the champions.
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"I've used all sorts of ways to try and motivate my players over the years," he told reporters. "I'd never rule anything out if I felt it was appropriate to use any method that I felt would get extra.
"My players are motivated to play well for Newcastle and for themselves and their families but if there was a way of doing that, yeah, I'd use it. I'm not going to comment on the situation that you mentioned but, certainly, we're highly motivated for the game."
Howe will speak to Almiron, as he always does before games, but the Newcastle boss has no plans to reference Grealish in that one-on-one chat as he feels it is not something that needs to be discussed. Howe revealed that Almiron, himself, is in a 'really good place' ahead of the visit of City and the forward is not someone that needs 'extra motivation' as he already has a 'real desire and passion to play football for Newcastle'.
Almiron has started both of Newcastle's opening fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Brighton and the Paraguay international looks set to keep his place on the right wing on Sunday. Following an encouraging start to the campaign. Howe feels there is still 'so much more to come' from Almiron.
"If you actually look at his performances towards the end of the season, he was excellent.," Howe said. "He may not have got the goals that highlighted those performances but, certainly, in pre-season, he did. I was really pleased with the pre-season he delivered.
"The first two games, he's had very good games again. He hasn't quite got the goals to elevate his performances to another level, but he was our standout performer against Brighton.
"There's so much more to come from Miggy. Everyone knows how good he is off the ball. He's got an incredible attitude off the ball and he really epitomises the way that we want to play out of possession but, on the ball, he's done some very good things and he's continuing to improve."
Fan group Wor Flags hinted they are planning a show of support for Almiron before the game after tweeting the hashtag #PlayLikeAlmiron with an eyes emoji on Thursday. Grealish, in contrast, is set to get a hostile reception and Howe, for one, has called on supporters to create another intimidating atmosphere right from kick-off, which he feels is a 'must' to get a result.
However, Grealish will not be specifically targeted by his players after Almiron's international team-mate Bruno Valdez left one in on the City star in a pre-season friendly against Club America earlier this summer.
"We need to play the game with cool heads," he added. "We need to have fire in our hearts, but we need to play with discipline. We can't lose that. I'll back our players. We're very good professionals. We need to keep 11 players on the pitch in every game this season."
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