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An excited Steve Bruce praised his Newcastle United players for showing their fight against the worst Covid outbreak in the Premier League.
Defenders Fabián Schar and captain Federico Fernández, two Toon players who have been ill, were instrumental in Newcastle by restricting City last night to just 24% possession.
“We were beaten by the best team, but I cannot fault our attitude and application,” Bruce said after his team’s brave 2-0 defeat.
‘Fab Schar has only trained twice in five weeks and had to show resistance. Freddie (Fernández) has been affected by it.
‘It was a great call to play because they have been fighting for a while. We have had great problems with illness and disease. Some of the criticisms have been mass hysteria ”.
The Newcastle team have been particularly affected by Covid this season and their game against Aston Villa had to be postponed earlier this month after the club’s training ground had to close.
The recovery has been slow for some players with Jamaal Lascelles and Alain Saint-Maximin still absent, but it hasn’t stopped Bruce from receiving criticism after a 5-2 loss at Leeds and then being knocked out of the League Cup by Brentford.
I will let other people judge. We always try to stay in the Premier League. That’s the big decision, ‘he said.
I’ll keep pushing us forward. We are witnessing the aftermath (of Covid). It has been an important factor. Some of the criticisms have been mass hysteria ”.
Pep Guardiola was also yesterday without Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus due to positive Covid tests.
“We found out about the evening of Christmas Eve,” he revealed. We are sad for them, as before with Riyad (Mahrez) and (Ilkay) Gundogan.
Covid is here. What we want is that the next few days do not present symptoms and can recover. It is a global problem. We are lucky to be able to do our job, but how many companies can do it?
In the absence of some players, Guardiola looks to the rest of the squad to compensate. “The guys who think what is best for the team and who think they have to give something, will be part of that,” he stressed.
City were in the middle of the table a week ago, but victories against Southampton and last night brought them to fifth place with Gundogan and Ferran Torres scoring in a 2-0 win.
“We have to be so calm, go to Everton next Monday and try to put in a good performance,” said the City manager.
“We played very well against Newcastle. The team played with rhythm and we were in control. Sometimes you have to make a billion passes to make a difference.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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