Source: Northern_Echo
Hughton pins hopes on promotion squad
NEWCASTLE'S small, tightlyknit squad was regularly cited by Chris Hughton as one of the key reasons behind their capture of last season's Championship title.[LNB] But in the Premier League, the lack of resources available to Hughton could prove be the Magpies' Achilles heel.[LNB] The new rules imposing a 25-man squad limit on senior players should hold no fears for the Newcastle boss who admits that he is short on numbers. While the likes of Spurs and Manchester City will be forced to trim their squads, Hughton's tight budget means the core of the players who secured Newcastle's promotion will have to bear the burden of cementing their position back in the top flight.[LNB] We could be stretched and we are aware of that,[LNB] admitted the Newcastle boss who knows that he will need more than team spirit this time around.[LNB] At the start of last season amid gloomy predictions that the Magpies were set for a second successive relegation battle, Hughton exuded an air of quiet confidence. Having seasoned campaigners such as Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan and Steve Harper committed to the cause reassured the manager his side could cope with the challenge ahead.[LNB] He said: For me, the pivotal moment was the last day of August, when we were able to sit down, look around the changing room and say Right, this is what we've got.' It was not so much the fact that nobody else was coming in, but the knowledge that nobody was going out.[LNB] We said to ourselves: This is our group, the group that's hopefully going to get us promotion back into the Premier League' and I think it was important that everybody was able to do that. It was a big moment for us because the players were able to look around and have confidence that all of that group in there were going to do their best to get us up.[LNB] However, Hughton is under no illusions that he can simply rely on the factors that brought success last season.[LNB] Championship clubs may have been overawed by their visits to St James' Park where Newcastle remained unbeaten but Hughton has hinted that a more cautious tactical approach is on the cards this season.[LNB] I think as a team having to be a bit smarter than we were last year in terms of tactics. There are things that we could get away with in the Championship last year that we won't get away with this year.[LNB] Some of the teams we are playing against are just as formidable away from home as they are at home and we have to be aware of that,[LNB] said Hughton.[LNB] If possible, I want us to be even harder to beat this season. That will be the challenge throughout the season, for me as much as anyone. Tactically, we will have to be different to last season, and our home form will be vital for us. It's normal to have mixed emotions going into the season, but I think the overriding one is of excitement.[LNB]
