'Not 100%' - Eddie Howe explains Sandro Tonali injury withdrawal & potential Newcastle United injury concern
Eddie Howe has explained his double substitution of Sandro Tonali and Kieran Trippier in the closing stages of Newcastle United’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Anthony Gordon’s penalty cancelled out Josko Gvardiol’s first-half opener before Howe withdrew Trippier and Tonali from the pitch. Both players limped off and Tonali was spotted with an ice pack on his knee when sat on the bench as Newcastle secured a hard-earned point at St James’ Park.
After the match Howe confirmed Tonali’s withdrawal was due to cramp but wasn’t so sure regarding Trippier, who seemed to be struggling slightly throughout the match.
“I think that's how you want a player to exit the pitch, really,” Howe admitted. “I think that's the difference between this week and last week, both players had given everything they could give anymore and they had to come off and I always say to the players, 'that's how I want you to play'.
“Both players had, for different reasons, broken pre-seasons. You can still see Sandro's got a little bit of fitness work to do to get to his best, he comes off with cramp and Kieran we hope his cramp but we're not 100% sure at the moment.
“But really good displays from both players.”
Newcastle bounced back from a disappointing 3-1 defeat at Fulham to hold the Premier League champions to a point at St James’ Park.
Reflecting on his side’s performance, Howe said: “I thought it was a really good performance from us in both halves. I hought we committed, we were brave, I think [Manchester City] are a very difficult team to press high up the pitch but I think we managed to find a way to get to them.
“Really Anthony Gordon, I think, epitomised, that spirit and that determination to be aggressive. I though his work that he got through was really, really impressive. His big long-distance runs, I think he proved that he's getting back to his very best in terms of fitness levels.
“So, I was really pleased with him and then the team backed that up and it's not easy to do as I say because [Man City] are so good at what they do. But I thought everyone to a, man. Put in a really good shift today.
I thought it was a really good game today. I thought it was really interesting tactically, I thought that's our best display of the season - no doubt about that for me with, and without the ball. And probably the most competitive we've been against Manchester City as well.
“Even the 3-3 draw, I felt I thought we had a little bit more control today than we had in that game. Really good signs for us.”