Eddie Howe has revealed that his Newcastle United players feel the 'desire from everyone around the city to be successful' as the Magpies prepare for their first League Cup semi-final in 47 years.
Newcastle travel to Southampton on Tuesday night for the first-leg of their huge cup clash at St Mary's. While reaching the semi-finals has represented a huge step forward for Newcastle, given the club's poor recent record in the competition, players and staff alike are now 'desperate' to get to the final at Wembley next month.
Dan Burn has already told his team-mates they would be 'gods' if they could end the club's trophy drought, which stretches back to 1969, and the group have certainly not needed reminding of the importance of tomorrow's game in their quest to do just that.
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"They know the size of the club they are playing for," Howe told reporters. "They know the want and desire from everyone around the city to be successful so I don't think I need to remind them of that.
"Certainly, in my conversations with them, they understand the responsibilities they have when playing here. You want the players to play the game their normal way so it's a balance between how much you build it up to how much you just let them be normal."
Howe understands the enormity of the occasion, but the measured Newcastle head coach has been trying to approach this game like he would a Premier League fixture rather than getting wrapped up in it. Howe, himself, admitted that he is 'not a big speech man' and the Newcastle boss wants his side to be able to 'express themselves without too much noise in their heads'.
Howe, as a result, has not veered away from his usual preparations when it comes to watching Southampton in depth, planning training and coming up with a game plan to win the game. That meticulousness has been at the heart of Newcastle's transformation in the last 12 months and is one of the many reasons why Howe has proved the club's most important addition in this new era.
Although this may be uncharted territory for Howe and the majority of his squad, who have not been in this situation before, Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock and Alexander Isak are among those players who have previous experience of winning semi-finals for club or country. That on the field influence could yet prove vital when it comes to playing the game rather than the occasion.
"I definitely think that helps," he said. "Their past experiences - we've got full internationals, players who've played at the World Cup and title winners within the group - are vital. The calmness that the senior players will give will hopefully rub off on everybody and, ultimately, it is just another game and that's the way we've got to look at it."
These players are all desperate to 'do something special' - just a few months after Howe challenged the group to create their own history. Tomorrow night's game will be another important step in that journey and rather than being weighed down by the past, like some of his predecessors were, Howe has instead embraced it while ensuring his side are 'in the present moment'.
"Leading the club is something that I don’t take lightly, but I don’t feel burdened by any external pressure," he added. "I don’t think I can live like that.
"I understand the importance of the game to everybody - me included - but I try to approach the games in the same way. Very analytical in the build-up, understand our opponent, understand how we’re going to play, trust our training, trust our work and then you sit back and watch the results of that work in the game.
"I think you have to have that mindset where you’re not too emotionally involved - you’re looking at it clearly from a football perspective.”
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