You came off about an hour into the game in your win over Ipswich. Did you pick up another injury?

It's a torn muscle at the bottom of my back which is giving me problems. I played because I felt ok but by the end of the first 20 minutes I began to feel a lot of pain. I managed to play the first half and in the changing room, Bobby Robson told me he wanted me to stay on the field a little longer. So I started the second half and after 15 minutes I came off. I was in a lot of pain, and I have a definite injury down my left side.

Was your injury made worse by playing?

I hope not, yesterday it was terribly painful even to walk. Its been getting better since this morning, but I'll have another scan to know more. One things for sure, I won't be going to Chelsea to play in the quarter final of the Worthington cup. The guys are going there tomorrow and I'm staying here at Newcastle. There is no miracle treatment for a torn muscle, all there is to do is rest. So I'll be resting for the next 4 days, then we'll see if I can start training again.

If it flares up again it will mean that you'll have to sit it out against Blackburn Rovers...

Absolutely, I don't want to take any risks, The calendar is heavily loaded for December and I don't want to miss these games. The thing is, I really want to play, but with this injury, there's nothing I can do.

How did the Ipswich game go?

Very good. We should have killed the game off a little quicker, if we would have finished our chances a little better, but It doesn't really matter, as we took back all three points. In any case, we're playing really well away from home at the moment. And for that reason I believe that we have a good chance at Chelsea in midweek.

And for you?

As well in attack as in defence, I felt it went well. It's true that I had some difficulties in sprinting and hitting the ball after Solano's goal went in though.

You stay in 4th place in the league, 5 points behind Liverpool. You have to play Leeds, Arsenal and Chelsea in the coming weeks, December looks to be a crucial month for you.

Yes, its going to be a very heavy month, as all these matches are played away from home, it'll be important to bring back three, four points. If we win this weekend against Blackburn, we will have done our job.

So by the end of December, we'll see if Newcastle have the means to go and win the league and get a Champions league place.

No, There is still a long way to go until the end of the league. We can already see how the season is going so far, and Manchester are no longer dominating it. The teams are really close to each other and many things can happen. I think that the league is really open this year, and there's a lot left to do.


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