Newcastle United closed the gap to their local rivals, Sunderland, to just a point ahead of the first derby of the season on Sunday, setti...
Sunderland have bucked the trend of promoted sides being whipping boys so far this season and have been hovering around the top end of the Premier League table since the start of the season.
They got brought back down to Earth with a bump on Saturday, though, as Manchester City beat them 3-0 in a game which also saw Luke O'Nien sent off, which is handy for Newcastle on Sunday too.
While fans are getting excited for Sunday's game, there is the small matter of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday to deal with first.
Eddie Howe insists his players are only focused on the next game
That is something that is certainly not lost on Eddie Howe, who told reporters (via Newcastle World) that he's making sure that Wednesday's game is their immediate focus and they aren't distracted by the weekend's game.
“That won't be a problem for the players, we won't have our mind on the next game before this one.
“It's a Champions League game against Leverkusen away, there's no greater prize for us than that game. Sunderland will come into focus when it needs to, but not before.”
Eddie Howe is allowing himself to think ahead
However, just because his players have Leverkusen and only Leverkusen in their immediate focus, that's not the case for Howe who admitted he's already planning well ahead.
“Yeah, of course, It's in my mind. We're planning all the time for two or three games ahead, without taking our eye off the immediate task.
“We go to Leverkusen now, it's a huge game in our Champions League season, so all focus will be on that. But in the back of my mind, I'll be preparing a team, I'll be preparing a game plan for that match.”
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