NEWCASTLE: Head coach Eddie has revealed PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan paid a visit to the Newcastle United dressing room in the aftermath of the team’s FA Cup embarrassment on Saturday.
The chairman, along with co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi, spoke to the players following the club’s shock 1-0 home loss to third tier Cambridge United in the third round of the competition.
Howe said the message from the club’s ownership was positive, despite the awful result.
“They did pop in to see the players,” Howe confirmed. “They also saw me with my staff. I believe they were very supportive to the players, highlighting that we are in this fight to stay in the league together. I can’t thank them enough for that support.
“It was very beneficial for the players to feel that because this journey we are going on currently, the fight we are in, is a united effort.
“The owners wanted to show their support for the players and it was welcomed by me.”
Reflecting on the result itself, Howe stopped short of criticising his players, pointing more to the fact they lacked quality in the final third. “It was a really difficult day for us,” he said.
“A lot of our play was OK up to the last part. And the quality was missing for us today,” he said.
“I thought we put a huge amount of crosses into the box with very limited success. We did create chances but didn’t take them. Their goalkeeper played very well, made a number of good saves.
“I think the longer we went without that goal, confidence seemed to dip. I thought the body language and the attitude of the players was good — I have no issues with that. We prepared and the players desperately wanted to win but we were just not good enough in front of goal.”
Meanwhile, Howe revealed Callum Wilson, injured last time out against Manchester United, will not be out as long as expected, with the striker set to miss the next two months of football.
“He had a scan yesterday because there was a slight doubt in the first scan as we had to let it heal a bit further. We think he is going to be out for eight weeks.”