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• Eddie Howe backs ‘brilliant shot-stopper’ Martin Dubravka to replace Nick Pope

  Eddie Howe has backed Martin Dubravka to plug the sizeable gap left by Nick Pope as Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper faces up to four months on the sidelines.

  Magpies head coach Howe’s worst fears over the shoulder injury which Pope suffered during Saturday night’s 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester United have been confirmed, with the 31-year-old due to undergo surgery which will sideline him for four months and leave him in a race against time to make England’s Euro 2024 squad.

  However, the £10million man’s misfortune – he dislocated his left shoulder as he dived in an attempt to save a Sergio Reguilon shot – will open the door for his deputies Dubravka, Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie with the Slovakia international, who came off the bench at the weekend, the man first in line to replace him starting at Everton on Thursday evening.

  Howe said: “We really believe in Martin and I’ve always had that high opinion of him.

  “Yes, we brought in Nick – we wanted to build competition for places, we wanted to build a squad that we felt could really carry us to great success – but Martin is a high-class goalkeeper.

  “He’s a brilliant shot-stopper himself, he’s very good with his feet and his distribution, so no hesitation about bringing Martin into the team and I hope he does really well.”

  Newcastle have been linked with a move for former Manchester United keeper David de Gea in recent days, but Howe insisted no approaches have been made.

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  He said: “We have not made any inquiries or any decisions about our recruitment leading into January.

  “This is a chance for the goalkeepers we have at the football club to consolidate their positions, and that will be the same for every other position at the club.”

  Howe had earlier confirmed that Pope is awaiting a final decision on the way forward, but that surgery was inevitable.

  He said: “We anticipate he’ll be operated on – there’s no doubt he needs an operation – so he will be out for a period of time.

  “The operation hasn’t happened yet, but we’re thinking roughly around four months, so it’s a big blow to us, but one that we expected after the game.

  “He’s naturally down because at this stage of the season where we have so many games, huge games coming up – he’s got, obviously, the Euros ahead of him as well, which he was determined to try to be involved in, and there’s still chance of that for him.

  “But I think his main determination is to come back for us, and you never know what situation we’ll be in at that stage of the season, so it could be a lot worse for him.”

• Difficult to understand new rules – Mauricio Pochettino

  Mauricio Pochettino puts Chelsea’s ill-discipline down to the close-season change of rules with the Blues leading the Premier League for yellow cards this season.

  Chelsea have amassed 47 yellow and three red cards, following the dismissal of Malo Gusto against Aston Villa in September and both Reece James and Conor Gallagher being sent off in their last two games.

  Pochettino highlighted how the FA’s new rules in targeting petulance such as kicking the ball away or dissent is the reason behind his team’s poor record.

  Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Manchester United on Wednesday, Pochettino said: “Today we were talking in the meeting and we showed the clips of the yellow cards. There are too many because they changed the rules this season.

  “We touch and we put the ball from here to there, and that is a tic that we need to change.

  “We were talking about Nicolas Jackson, the yellow card because of complaining to the referee. The opponent made a foul and didn’t receive a yellow card.

  “But you complain about ‘why is that not a yellow card?’ And it’s ‘Oh, yellow card for you’. We receive like this.

  “It’s difficult to understand this rule but now the referees want to apply it.”

  Jackson’s seven bookings are the most in the league and that tally saw him sit out of the Blues’ 2-0 win over west London rivals Fulham in October.

  Pochettino called for his players to be cleverer if they are to avoid picking up similar suspensions.

  He added: “We need to be clever and improve in this area. We cannot be silly to repeat, repeat, repeat the same mistakes.

  “When we play football, always if you made a foul, if the opponent came to take the ball quick, boom, you touch. Even when you play football with your friends, that happens. It’s difficult to change.”

  The last time Pochettino faced Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was when he was in charge of Spurs during their dramatic 3-2 Champions League semi-final victory over the Dutchman’s Ajax in 2019.

  And the Chelsea manager noted that the match would have been painful for Ten Hag while it was one of his “best nights in football”.

  He said: “Of course it was really painful, the situation, but sometimes when you are a coach there are things you cannot control. This is the beauty of football.

  “He wasn’t on the pitch. People make you responsible of course. But you cannot change anything from outside. It was difficult.

  “One of my best nights in football. For sure it was tough for him. But we all move on.

  “For sure he has moved on and he is at a great club now. It’s going to be nice to meet him.”

• ‘See my record’ – Erik ten Hag insists he is right man to lead Manchester United

  Erik ten Hag told doubters to look at his record as the under-fire boss spoke with conviction about being the right man to help stumbling Manchester United fulfil their ambitions.

  Having won the Carabao Cup, reached the FA Cup final and finished third in the Premier League during a promising first season in charge, things have gone awry during his second campaign.

  Saturday evening’s lifeless 1-0 loss at Newcastle was their 10th defeat in just 21 matches in all competitions, leading criticism, scrutiny and pressure to mount on manager Ten Hag.

  Reports emerged that the Dutchman had lost the confidence of some players, with concerns over style and tactics mentioned in stories that led to four media outlets being banned from Tuesday’s press conference.

  United were furious not to have been given a right to reply to the reports that Ten Hag dismissed as he came out fighting and preaching about togetherness before hosting Chelsea.

  “There will be always tough times in every journey,” the United manager said. “We are in the right direction.

  “I know we will get there where we want to be. Because – see my record.

  “Everywhere where I was, every season, I got my targets, so if we stick together, stick to the plan and the strategy, we will get where we want to be.”

  Ten Hag managed Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich II and Utrecht before flourishing at Ajax and earning his move to Manchester.

  The 53-year-old won three league titles during his time in charge of the Dutch giants, who he led to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.

  Tottenham ended that unforgettable run and Ten Hag comes up against Mauricio Pochettino for the first time since then, and beating him to the United job, when Chelsea visit.

  Asked ahead of Wednesday’s Old Trafford clash what the realistic timeframe is for getting United where they want to go, Ten Hag said: “First of all, I can’t say in this club we are waiting for two, three years.

  “This club the aim is, the demand is and the standards should be that you win every game, so we go in every game with the aim.

  “I demand of my team, my players to win every game. Doesn’t matter who the opponent is, and I will stick to that. That brought us last year very far.

  “We were third in the league, in the FA Cup final – we could even have won this – and we won the Carabao Cup.

  “That mentality I don’t want to change this because that will be a drop-off in culture.

  “That means, yeah, there is a high standard on me, and me together with the team, so it’s also high standards on the players, and I don’t make compromises on that.”

  United’s mentality has been in question as much as the group’s unity this term, yet Ten Hag believes he has the players’ full backing heading into a frantic festive period.

  “Oh yeah, I never had the idea they don’t (back me) because I know they would have dropped me against Fulham or Burnley if it was the other situation,” the Red Devils boss said.

  “If the situation was not right, if the environment was not right, and that’s not the case.”

  It was an eye-catching comment from Ten Hag as he referred to crunch 1-0 wins at Burnley and Fulham that both came after a different chastening spells for the side.

  United now need to avoid an 11th loss as the Blues visit on Wednesday as the manager looks to raise levels and “build on the foundations”.

  “Of course negativity is never good,” Ten Hag added. “You have to take care it never kills the energy.

  “But I don’t care because I know, and all the players know, we are the biggest club in the world, or one of the biggest clubs, then you know you get a lot of attention.

  “You know then in the moment results are not going in your way and you’re not performing how you should, there’s coming criticism and you have to deal with that.

  “We are together in that. There’s no way that you are alone there. You are together in that boat. We know that, so we will deal with it in togetherness.”