Carver Confident Ahead Of City Clash

By Emily Bulmer

Head coach John Carver insists Newcastle United will go to high-flying Manchester City with confidence, rather than fear, on Saturday (5.30pm kick-off).

The Magpies travel to the Etihad Stadium this weekend to face a City side who are currently seven points adrift of Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea.

The teams have already met twice this season - recording one win each - with United the most recent victors thanks to a 2-0 victory in Manchester last October which sent the holders out of the Capital One Cup.

"We are going there knowing that we are playing against a good side, but we are not going to be fearful because we've proved that we can go there and get a result," explained Carver.

"Yes we played them at the start of the season and lost the game, but we were in the game for long periods of time. It was because we were on the front foot trying to get the equaliser that we got caught on the counter attack.

"We know that City have a huge Champions League game coming up on Tuesday against Barcelona, so what changes (Manuel) Pellegrini will make, I'm not entirely sure.

"One thing I will say is that City don't just have a good starting 11, they have a strong second string as well, so picking a first 11 must be difficult."

Newcastle's victory at the Etihad Stadium earlier this term was something of shock, with Rolando Aarons' early strike paving the way before Moussa Sissoko sealed the triumph in the second half. 

And Carver sees no reason why his side should not go and take the game to their opponents once more.

"We've got to take a lot from the League Cup win there in October," he continued.

"We thoroughly deserved the win that night. It wasn't a freak result, we played really well against a really strong City side.

"We're going to go to City with confidence. We do have a game plan and we aren't just going to park the bus. We're going to have a go at them."