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‘Definitely not’ – Callum Wilson hits back at Newcastle United and Premier League criticism
Joe Buck
3 – 4 minutes
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Newcastle United face Liverpool in next month’s Carabao Cup final, but they have a host of important Premier League matches to play before that game.
Heading into Sunday’s clash against Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park, Newcastle United had lost three of their last four Premier League matches – including back-to-back league games at St James’ Park. However, a blistering 14-minute period saw the Magpies hit four goals to take a 4-1 lead against Forest and assure victory – or so they thought.
Two strikes in the second half from the visitors made it a very, very nervy ending at St James’ Park – although they were able to hold on and cut the gap to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to just three points.
Whilst a win does allay fears slightly that Newcastle may get lost in the shuffle of the European mix, particularly after results on Saturday went their way, their second half performance will be a real worry and one they can ill-afford to repeat on a regular basis – particularly if they want to quash fears that some of their players have one eye on next month’s cup final.
Callum Wilson hits back at Carabao Cup ‘distraction’
Writing in a pre-match column ahead of Newcastle United’s clash with Nottingham Forest on Sunday, Wilson rebutted the notion that he and his teammates had one eye on next month’s trip to Wembley: ‘’But if anyone thinks next month’s Carabao Cup final was a factor [in the defeat against Manchester City’, that’s definitely not the case. Since we progressed to the final we had another game in a cup competition where we beat Birmingham, which demonstrated that we’re still going about our business in the right way.
‘Not team in the world wants to go into a cup final out of form – we want to go there with everyone feeling good, feeling confident – so it’s vital that we play to our full potential in every game between now and 16th March with the intention of getting the best possible results. There’s still a lot of football to be played until that point, so that match at Wembley can’t be at the forefront of our minds right now.
‘There’s no denying that we want to win silverware for the club, but we also want to be playing in Europe next term and there’s so much to play for in the league.’
Newcastle United’s pre-Carabao Cup final schedule
The Magpies have just three days to rest and recover from their clash with Forest before they make the trip to Anfield on Wednesday night. A dress rehearsal for next month’s final awaits on Merseyside before they host Brighton in the FA Cup next Sunday.
The Seagulls defeated Newcastle at St James’ Park in the league back in October, with Howe’s side keen to avenge that loss and potentially put themselves just 90 minutes from another return to Wembley, albeit in a semi-final. They then have eight days to wait for their next and final outing before the final.
That match sees them come up against West Ham at the London Stadium on Monday 10 March. Kick-off is at 8pm.
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