Roeder Defends Shepherd

A lot has been made of the fixture pile up and Newcastle returning back from Sicily just hours before they face Sheffield United.

The match with the Blades, which is so important to both teams and is a relegation '6 pointer', is shown live on SKY TV.

And some quarters have accused chairman Freddy Shepherd of putting pressure on the manager by taking the money, rather than taking the one day's 'grace' offered by the FA when a team plays on a Thursday.

But Glenn Roeder says the decision was NOT that of the chairman.



Glenn Roeder: 'It is a big ask to have to play Thursday, Saturday and then Tuesday, but we have got to overcome that.

'The way things are going with the UEFA Cup and Carling Cup, we do have too many games. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

'It would be helpful if we had a number of more players at senior level. If somebody had picked up a knock, they would not have had time to recover and I am sure there will be one or two players who wake up sore in the morning. They perhaps would be fine for Tuesday, but not Saturday.

'The Sheffield United fixture cannot be helped. It was a schedule already decided in July. Our preparations will be different in that we are staying here in Palermo until Friday evening and will move to a hotel in Newcastle on Friday night.

'It is not ideal playing again in 48 hours, but that is the situation and we will take a positive approach and prepare for the game. Once Sky had decided it would be played on Saturday night, that was the end of it and we have to just get on with it.'

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