27 November 2023 , 19:05
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Nicke Pope wants to shut out Kylian Mbappe and relaunch his England Euros hopes in Newcastle ’s knife edge Champions League clash at PSG.
The Toon keeper is set for a busy night in Paris with Mbappe having smashed 14 goals in 12 games since he flopped at St James’ Park. He has faced 42 shots in the Champions League away games at Milan and Dortmund this season.
In all, Pope has faced 66 shots on target, conceding four goals, and is the only English keeper playing in the competition. Pope says there has not been a fall out with Southgate after being left out of all squads this season.
He pulled out of the summer internationals to have a finger operation that was “six months overdue”. Jordan Pickford is England No1, with Aaron Ramsdale not playing for Arsenal and Sam Johnstone of Crystal Palace also ahead of Pope.
Pope said: “I’ve got to make it impossible for Gareth to leave me out in the future. It’s down to me. I’ve not had any conversations (with Southgate) to be honest,” he said.
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“He’s got a lot of players to look after and other things on his mind, he can’t always be focused on individual players who aren’t in the squad.
“It’s just motivation to do better. I don’t look anywhere else other than myself in the mirror. I want to be back in the England squad, I want to be going to a major tournament at the end of the season. I’m not in the squad, but that’s down to myself. That’s the way I look at it.
“There hasn’t been any fall out. I don’t think so… I had to have surgery on my finger after the Leicester game which was six months overdue to be honest. So, no, there hasn’t been anything like that (a fall out).
Pope has denied there has been any fall out with England boss Gareth Southgate“My form has been ok, I’ve been really happy but obviously there are still little things I think I could have done better. There is always room for improvement.”
Howe said of Pope: “He has been huge for us. He has brought a real confidence to the backline and he is quite unique with his skill set. You could see in the Chelsea game, the outstanding save he made in the first half when the scores were level. That was probably an understated save and I must admit I didn’t realise how good it was until I saw it again watching the game back.
“It’s those key moments, those big saves that he has made since he came here that have really elevated us as a team. He’s a very calm guy, he’s very popular in the dressing room and a lot of fun to be around.
Newcastle have ten first team players out, and three including Matt Ritchie and Emile Krafth who are fit but were not named in their UEFA squad.
Pope added: “A win would be nice and keeps it in our hands. That would be nice before Milan at home. We are a top team, and top team behaviour and attitude means we want and believe we can win the game.”
"We don’t want excuses. We don’t want this to be the end. We have to roll our sleeves up and take it on.”
Newcastle have shaken up their travelling routine and trained on the Parc des Princes pitch on Monday night to settle themselves.
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Howe explained: “We are looking for a better performance than our past away games. I think some players feel they need (to train here). It also gave us a bit more recovery time at home. The players had a little bit longer with their families this morning then we travelled a bit later. That may be important as well trying to pinch hours at home with their families.”
Lewis Miley, 17, will start his first European game and Howe added: “He is ready. He has a great temperament for these occasions.”