Eddie Howe: Newcastle must respond to difficult December

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has challenged his squad to up their game in January, following a tough December.

The Magpies will run out at Liverpool on Monday evening having lost six of their last seven games in all competitions as a first Champions League campaign for 20 years and hopes of a second successive Carabao Cup final appearance slipped from their grasp.

Howe's troops endured a gruelling schedule of 10 games in 30 days in the midst of a seemingly never-ending injury crisis as 2023 drew to a close, but the 46-year-old head coach will not allow anyone within the camp to feel sorry for themselves following back-to-back Premier League defeats by Luton and Nottingham Forest.

He said: "It's been a difficult period. December was always going to be really tough for us. We were well aware going into the month how important the month was going to be.

"Obviously we've gone out of two competitions that we were determined to do well in, so the players have had to respond to some difficult moments and I think that's probably been a contributing factor to the last two results.

"They've probably been the ones that have hurt us most in terms of our performances haven't been where we wanted them to be.

"Look, I think it's a time where you have to be really strong and you have to stand up and be counted and respond.

"There's two ways of looking at the month of January with the fixtures that we have. For me, it's an amazing month, a brilliant month and a great opportunity for us to fight back and show our qualities."

The new year could hardly have presented a more testing run of fixtures - the trip to Anfield is followed by an eagerly-anticipated FA Cup third round trip to derby rivals Sunderland before club world champions Manchester City head for St James' Park with in-form Aston Villa waiting in the wings.

Any extension of the sequence of poor results would have a major impact on Newcastle's dwindling hopes of repeating last season's top-four finish, although for the time being at least, there is no pressure on Howe from the club's Saudi-backed owners.

Asked what feedback he had received from the regime, he said: "We're always communicating with them. It's no different whether we win, lose or draw, so those communications are always there and everyone is working as a team."

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