'A massive game for us' - Howe on Carabao Cup semi-final first leg | OneFootball

The Magpies make a swift return to the capital, following a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, to face the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium in the first of two fixtures against Mikel Arteta's side, with the second leg taking place at St. James' Park on Wednesday, 5th February.

Howe was asked about Sven Botman's longly-awaited return to competitive action, with the Dutch defender making his first Magpies outing since March, as well as Anthony Gordon's availability for the cup clash and Bruno Guimarães' one-match suspension after the Brazilian midfielder picked up two yellow cards during the previous rounds.

Here are some of the boss' main talking points from Monday morning's pre-match media briefing at the Newcastle United Media Centre...

On Sven Botman, who made his first United start since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March:

“He feels good. Naturally, a little bit of fatigue at the end of the game but I think, with Sven, it was a long absence but he's trained for a long, long time for this moment.

"After the Aston Villa game, he was cleared to play but we wanted to give him longer to try and reach his best physical levels. It is not like he has been rushed back. Straight into action, he did very well, (I was) really pleased with him and he handled the intensity well.”

On Anthony Gordon:

“Anthony was in a bit of discomfort with the cut which was a nasty looking one. He came from that incident with blood on himself so we dusted him down. He got back on the pitch and performed really well for us.

"I thought he had a really good game so we will see how he is today.”

On team selection:

“You ask any player, and I will ask every player how they are physically, they will all say they're fine to play. We have to try and pick the best players, physically, for the game.

"It is a massive game for us. We are under no illusions how big this game is for us for this season so part of our strength recently is that we have been consistent with team selection so let’s see what we do.”

On Bruno Guimarães, who misses the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final due to suspension:

"It's a big blow. One of Bruno's biggest strengths is he is always there for you. His record has been brilliant for us especially when you consider the physical exertion that he commits to every game.

"His training is very good and he's been exceptional in every way so to lose him, and he's a pivotal figure for us, is going to be a big miss but we have good players that can fill his shoes as well so, whoever I choose in that position, I have a lot of quality players."

On the midfield trio of Guimarães, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton:

"I love the three players we have in there at the moment. I love the players that aren't in there at the moment. It's a strong area for us.

"They're performing very well and building really good relationships with each other and that is why losing Bruno from that trio will be, not necessarily negative for us but a disruption to the normal rhythm in how we've played in recent games.

"The biggest compliment I can pay them all is they are giving us (a lot), not just in possession which is the easier side of the game, but they've been excellent off the ball and they're highly intelligent players."

On Kieran Trippier's experience in domestic and international competitions:

"We have a few players who have those credentials. Tripps is a player that always lends his experience to every moment that we're in.

"He was a little bit ill before the Tottenham game but he was absolutely first class during the game, helping players before, during and afterwards.

"He's been excellent coming into the team and playing as well as he has but he always helps and I think there's three or four others that have those big game experiences which will naturally help. Ultimately, as a group, I think we're pretty experienced now and I don't look at that as a weakness."

On Nick Pope and Emil Krafth, who both remained sidelined due to injury:

"Nick's following on a track he was on. There's been no setback and he's on track for six weeks when he got injured initially. He's been well. I'm not in regular contact so I'll see how he is.

"(Emil's) getting closer. He's done a lot of work but the type of injury he has (collarbone) meant he could run quite early and do everything other than physical contact. He's super fit but he'll need the bone to heal before he can take that contact again."