Eddie Howe says that he will use the triple Wammy of Cup-final victims of Newcastle to bring his team closer together while fighting for silverware and a Champions League-Terugkeer.
The Magpies lost three players last week in the same number of days after the Red Card by Anthony Gordon was followed by Brighton during the FA Cup defeat by the news that both Lewis Hall (only) and Sven Botman (knee) needed surgery.
Gordon will miss three games, Botman will be confronted on the sidelines for eight weeks and the season of Hall is over. It means that the trio from the journey from Monday evening to West Ham is in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup final of next Sunday against Liverpool.
But Howe said: 'A positive must come out to have the chance to be successful in the coming weeks. There is no question that we feel sorry for ourselves.
'We believe in ourselves and we believe in the group. We believe in how we play and how we work. I believe in the characters of the players. I believe we have a very special team and a special group of people. But we have to come together.
'After the Brighton game that was a very difficult feeling for 48 hours. But there is always a new day and a new way to look at the same situation. For me I look at it as, can I find answers to the problems? Can we fight even more strongly? '
The good news for Howe is that Joelinton is ready to play at West Ham in what his first league match will be in more than a month. That gives the head coach an alternative to Gordon to the left of a forward line.
“Joe is one of those players who can play links, and that really did well for us historically,” said Howe.
'I think that the most pleasant of last Sunday (his injury -Comback against Brighton) would be his performance, because I thought he looked energetic, he looked his normal self. It seemed that there was no hangover due to an injury, and I was not necessarily surprised because I had seen the work he had done. He trained as an absolute beast, because he knows what is on the horizon.
'Of course he has cup final ambitions. A Brazilian, with international experience, enormous motivation, so he worked very hard. It is a big lift to have it back. '
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