The 23-year-old right-back was withdrawn during the second-half of the Magpies' third round win, via penalties, against the Cherries and, following a hamstring issue, could be sidelined for Tuesday ni...
The 23-year-old right-back was withdrawn during the second-half of the Magpies' third round win, via penalties, against the Cherries and, following a hamstring issue, could be sidelined for Tuesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg meeting with Manchester City at St. James' Park (kick-off 8pm GMT).
Aiming to defend their Carabao Cup crown, United bid to extend their unbeaten home run across all competitions to 14 matches and claimed a 2-1 win against Pep Guardiola's side in November, courtesy of Harvey Barnes' second-half brace.
Here are some of the boss' main talking points during Monday's pre-match media briefing at the Newcastle United Media Centre....
On Livramento's injury...
"No major update, he will be having a scan today to understand the extent of the damage on his hamstring."
On the Carabao Cup first leg, United's fourth consecutive game at St. James' Park:
"I think the natural preference is for the home game to be the second leg because you have a clear understanding of what we need to do and have the home crowd with you.
"It is not like that for us this time. We need to use the home crowd for our advantage in the first game, trying to give everything to impose ourselves on them in this home tie.
"We really enjoyed the two-legged format last year and even the gap between games was good because you could detach yourself from the result and it's very similar this year. This is going to be a tough challenge; they are the hardest team to play over two legs in this country."
On the challenge of Man City, who are unbeaten in their last five competitive away matches since November's 2-1 defeat against the Magpies:
"They are a very difficult team to prepare for. They always change and tinker a lot with the tactical set-up that they have and they have a few players missing.
"The priority is always ourselves and what we do and how we can hurt them. We need to give the best account of ourselves."
On Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon...
"Harvey is in great form. He is red hot in front of goal. The goals that he's scoring are different types as well, so it's good to see.
"Really pleased with Anthony's contribution as well. It was his cross for Harvey's header and his pass for Sandro Tonali to win the penalty.
"It's good to see the wingers producing productivity. It was something that we maybe missed early season. With Jacob Murphy and Anthony Elanga hopefully not far away, our firepower in the wide areas is getting up to full strength."
On team-news:
"I will have discussions with the medical team and performance team; physical and energy levels are of the up most importance for this game. We will have to make decisions based on that.
"This is a huge challenge, some players have just played 120 minutes and then a few days later are being asked to go again, but I’d like to think, physically and mentally, come kick-off we will be ready to go again."
On Emil Krafth's fitness...
"He's a big miss for us at the moment. He is trying to come back from a knee problem. He is not feeling absolutely at his best currently.
"I have got no definitive return day for him. We are taking it day by day and we will see him back quickly. He has always been such a reliable performer for us.
"He gives the versatility in different position and we are desperate for him [to be] back."
On Alex Murphy...
"Alex is working hard. He's worked really intensely on his game. We have tried to develop him in training.
"He did well against Fulham in the Carabao Cup. We will use him at the right time for us and him. He is an important player now. We have big injuries to our backline. Any player who can cover is an important player."
Category: General Sports
