Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has once more hit back at accusations that his team are guilty of time-wasting during matches.
The Magpies are back up to third in the Premier League after Sunday's impressive 2-0 victory over Manchester United that saw them leapfrog Erik ten Hag's side in the table.
But before the match at St James' Park, Ten Hag had suggested that Newcastle were becoming known for “delaying” tactics and that referees needed to take action.
“We know they delay, yeah,” said Ten Hag, “It’s something that is what the referees don’t want, they want to have tempo in the game … So they [referees] also have to be consistent to let the game go.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had made similar comments after Liverpool's last-gasp win over the Tyneside club back in August.
“It was hard to take,” the German said following the game at Anfield. “I had no idea if that tonight was on purpose or if their players really had to go down because [they were] slightly injured. I don’t know.”
Howe dismissed the claims of both managers and, speaking ahead of Wednesday's game away to West Ham United, he reiterated that the accusations made against his side were inaccurate.
“I think our first intention is to always play the game and we want, as I said after the game, we want the ball in play,” said the former Bournemouth manager in Tuesday's pre-match press conference.
“I encourage my players all the time to get the ball back in play very quickly. We want to play at a high tempo and want to wear teams down physically. That goes against what was said about us.
“Of course, there’s been times in games where we have to manage the game. We have to use experience, we have to do whatever we can to get a positive result. I’m not saying we won’t do that either. Certainly that’s not our first intention.”
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The battle for third and fourth place is hotting up with Newcastle level on 50 points with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United but ahead of both thanks to a vastly superior goal difference.
Next up for the black and whites are three away games in a row – against West Ham, Brentford and Aston Villa – over the Easter period, before a St James' Park return when they take on top-four rivals Spurs.
Howe and his squad will stay in London for five days, covering the games against West Ham and Brentford, with fatigue a concern as the season heads into its home straight.
The coaching staff will make a late call on Joe Willock, scorer of the opening goal against United, who is struggling with a hamstring problem for the Hammers game.
“The three away games is tough but we have been here before. We love playing at home,” said Howe. “But our results on the road have been good and consistent.
“We are going to need to take points on this run. We plan to stay in London and minimise our travelling as we don't want to fatigue our players. We have to get the preparation right.
“There are a few tired bodies in the squad. It was a real physical effort in the game [against Man United]. Hopefully nothing too much. We need to deliver that again.
“West Ham are a really difficult team and they have had a slightly difficult season with all the games they have played in Europe. They have an outstanding manager who has vast experience. I thought they recruited really well last summer and have a strong squad.”
