'Pinnacle of English football' - Wimbledon boss issues 'fantastic' Newcastle United thanks for two reasons

AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson has described Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe and his coaching team as one of the finest in English football ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup tie.

The ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Charlton Athletic midfielder was hugely impressed by Newcastle’s performance during last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City and has described the upcoming contest as a ‘stern’ test for his League Two side.

“They’re a great side. They were really impressive on Saturday against the champions Manchester City. It’ll be a stern test after they claimed a point. “ Jackson told the club website.

“They are coached fantastically by Eddie Howe and his staff and are right up there at the pinnacle of English football as a club. It’ll be a brilliant test for us as players and staff.“

The third-round tie, which was originally due to be played in Wimbledon last week, was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Plough Lane. As a result, the match will now be staged tonight at St James’ Park, providing Wimbledon and Newcastle with a financial boost in terms of increased ticket sales due to the significantly larger venue. In the Carabao Cup, each club receives 45% of the proceeds from the fixture they take part in.

Newcastle also made a significant donation of £15,000 towards a fundraiser in a bid to help Wimbledon deal with any costs associated with the floods.

Jackson said:“We want to say thank you to Newcastle as a club. They were really helpful in switching the game so quickly - they didn’t have to do that. They’ve also donated to the fund raising, which is also a fantastic gesture. That probably encouraged others to get behind it too.”

Wimbledon pulled off a shock penalty shoot-out victory to eliminate Premier League side Ipswich Town in their last Carabao Cup encounter. Now they are keen to pull off another huge upset against top-flight opposition.

Ahead of the game against the 2023 finalists, Jackson said: “This is why we do it - this is the reward for beating Ipswich. We took that game really seriously and we went into it believing that we could win, and we pulled it off. It was meant to be a home game, and it becomes more difficult now going to Newcastle, but the lads get to experience it.

“It will be unbelievably hard, but we have to believe we can get a positive result at St James’ Park and go there with a game plan that’s going to give us a chance of doing that. We expect them to be full throttle in whatever they do and we’re preparing to face the best possible Newcastle. If we do that - it gives us the best possible chance too.”