Eddie Howe urges his players to inspire St James' Park crowd on Saturday when Newcastle United face Manchester City
Newcastle United and Manchester City meet yet again on Saturday in the FA Cup with an 8pm kick-off at St James' Park, live on TNT Sports.
It's the fifth meeting between the two teams this season, having met twice in the Premier League and twice in the Carabao Cup already. It currently stands at 3-1 to Manchester City, but that one Newcastle win was at St James' Park.
Newcastle will be hoping to build on the good feelings following the 2-1 win over Manchester United in midweek after having Jacob Ramsey sent off.
A big part of what pushed the Magpies over the line on Wednesday night was the raucous atmosphere inside St James' Park.
Eddie Howe knows his players need to give the crowd something to cheer about
While Eddie Howe is more than aware of how important the St James' Park crowd can be, he's equally aware of the part his team has to play in creating that atmosphere, and that's what he told reporters during Friday morning's press conference.
"The crowd react to us. It is our duty to set the tone, and we did that against Manchester United - positive in our outlook and energetic - they helped us get us over the line. We need a ferocious St. James’ Park."
Howe conceded that the atmosphere the last time Man City were here was a bit flat and that contributed to the defeat, but he also admitted that his team's performance was also flat and that was likely why the atmosphere followed suit.
We doubt the St James' Park crowd will need much more encouragement on Saturday night
The atmosphere is always at a 10 when the game kicks off; it's then over to the players to perform to keep that energy up. It's very much a reciprocal transaction.
We know how big this game is for our season, so we doubt that the home crowd will need much whipping up before kick-off. If the players can match that enthusiasm, we have every chance of sending City crashing out of this competition.
That being said, if Pep Guardiola wants to mess about with his starting lineup and give some fringe players a run out, we wouldn't say no.
