Eddie Howe has expressed that Alexander Isak is “very motivated” to strike against Liverpool in the upcoming Carabao Cup final.
Despite only featuring for 45 minutes in Newcastle’s loss to Manchester United at Wembley two years ago, Isak emerges as the Magpies’ leading goal-scorer with a tally of 19 this season, although he’s recently been sidelined with muscle tightness.
Even after being notably absent from Howe’s line-up during Newcastle’s recent 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, Isak is poised to return against West Ham United on Monday. If he emerges unscathed from this encounter, Howe is confident Isak will be eager to challenge Liverpool at Wembley.
In the wake of Anthony Gordon’s red card in the FA Cup loss to Brighton, Newcastle will be compelled to go without its influential winger for the Wembley showdown. In an interview with Chronicle Live, Howe commented: “He is very very motivated to score. That is one of the things that is so good about him, the same with Callum Wilson.
“They’ve got that desire to score in every moment, in every training session. Goalscorers have that mentality and he’s got it, so hopefully he is able to take his place on the pitch and do that.”
When quizzed about the likelihood of Isak playing against West Ham, Howe acknowledged: “Fingers crossed, yeah. As I said, if he is fit, he will play because that is the best way to get him in the best physical condition for future games.
“Footballers are finely tuned athletes and when they are ready to play they have to play. You have to give them that opportunity.
“Fingers crossed Alex will be fine. I understand the intense sort of speculation and spotlight on him but the best thing we can do is just relax and let him play his football.”
Newcastle already has a number of injury issues to deal with ahead of the Wembley final. Both Sven Botman and Lewis Hall will play no part after both suffering relatively serious setbacks.
