(Reuters) – Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will not get complacent after winning the UEFA Super Cup as they return to Premier League action over the weekend against Newcastle United, manager Eddie Howe said on Friday.
City beat Sevilla on penalties to win the Super Cup and add to last season’s treble success. Howe said Guardiola’s side will not rest on their laurels against a team looking to establish themselves as regular top four contenders.
Newcastle finished in the top four for the first time in two decades last season and go into Saturday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium as table toppers after a 5-1 victory on the opening weekend.
“They (City) went into a tough game and were desperate to win, you could see their reactions afterwards. This is a team that will not be complacent. They will be ready for us, so we expect a really good game,” Howe told reporters.
“We want our players to go there with all the positive emotions that our season last year and our first game of this season should bring.
“We want to become a top team consistently in the Premier League and to do that we have to have a clear identity and try to implement that on other teams.”
Guardiola had complained about the timing of their league fixture coming just 72 hours after their triumph in Athens, giving them little time to recover, but Howe said that would have no impact on the result.
“I’ve been in this situation before. For me, there is no advantage. I’ve been on both sides,” Howe said.
“We’ve played a lot of games in a short period of time and you think, maybe is that a weakness for us and we have won games from that situation.
“We have also lost games in that situation so it will just come down to how we perform on the day and how they perform on the day. I understand the way he is thinking about it, but I don’t think it will have any bearing on the result.”
Howe also confirmed they are working on a loan deal to sign Chelsea defender Lewis Hall.
“Let’s wait and see what happens today. He is a player that I like, very versatile and really good potential,” he said.
“I think if we were able to bring a player in, that would be our transfer business concluded unless there are injuries.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
