Eddie Howe has warned his Newcastle United players there will be even less respite in matches than ever before due to a Premier League rule change.
Starting with Newcastle's opener against Nottingham Forest, teams have been told by Premier League rule makers to operate with a multi-ball system meaning that booting the ball into Row Z to waste time could be a thing of the past. The moment balls go out of play, ball boys and girls have been ordered to replace them immediately and maintain an eye contact with players throughout the match.
There will be 10 balls in place around the sides of top-flight pitches with Howe well aware of the implications of new rules. From Saturday at St James' Park one ball will be in play, one with the fourth official and eight around the pitch.
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At least eight ball boys or girls must be in place around the pitch and they have been encouraged to help speed up play for both teams once the ball is dead.
Howe said: "It was a really quick game (vs Atalanta). The game was restarted and that will be a feature of the Premier League this year. It will be more intense than it has ever been. The multi-ball system is now in place.
"There won't be as much rest as there has been historically. We knew we needed to come back very fit and I thought the players showed very good energy to maintain that work-rate in the 90 minutes."
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