Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WHEN THE GOING GETS DAFF... THE TOUGH GET GOING
Bruce says now the spring flowers are out.. his team must not wilt
LEICESTER v ARSENAL
King Power Stadium: Tomorrow, 12 noon
BY JOHN CROSS
MIKEL ARTETA has told Bukayo Saka he will have to carry on going like a marathon runner.
Saka, 19, has become invaluable to Arsenal’s season, he was the Europa League hero in Athens on Thursday night and even the manager admits he would “ideally” need a rest ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Leicester.
But Arteta insists Saka will have to keep on going in a vital few weeks for the club. The Arsenal starlet has arguably become their most important player.
He has already provided 18 assists in his career and, despite playing 35 games for club and country this season, there is no room for a break.
“There are things and professions that are much harder than ours where people keep on going and going – when someone is running a marathon and chasing somebody,” said Arteta.
“Fatigue is mental a lot of times because if things go well and you score a goal, I’m sure you will still have the energy to sprint and celebrate that goal.
“But when you have to track back you say you’re tired? I don’t really agree with that, if you are on that pitch – until you are absolutely done – you have to give your best.
“It is not only him, there are a lot of players who have played so many minutes, you could see the Benfica players and sense their fatigue and the changes they had to do.
“But when things go well the energy that creates sometimes overcomes fatigue and I prefer not to talk too much about fatigue.
“If we have to rest players we have to rest them because we have to keep them fit as much as possible. But as well you have to develop that mental toughness you need when you are in competitions you want to win.” Saka has become
HE’S BIG BUKS Bukayo Saka has been a huge plus for Mikel Arteta’s tough season one of the best young players in England and, because of his importance to Arsenal, maybe even the very best of the post-2000 generation.
Arteta added: “He is a boy that is constantly willing to learn, to get better, to work on the things he can do better and he is very humble and hard working.
“When that happens normally, and you have the talent he has, you can go a long way.”
Arteta believes his opposite number tomorrow, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, should be a contender for Manager of the Year even with what Pep Guardiola is achieving at Manchester City.
“Obviously what Manchester City are achieving is phenomenal,” said Arteta. “It’s unprecedented and that has to be rewarded.
“What Leicester have done in recent years, what they have already achieved this season, with the level of consistency that they’ve shown in the Premier League, I think Brendan winning the award is something to consider.”
St James’ Park: 8pm
BY SIMON BIRD
STEVE BRUCE has pinpointed the reason Newcastle are facing a crunch week... daffodils are blooming.
The Toon chief has spotted the spring flower emerging and says it means “the tickly part” of the season is upon us, with the Magpies facing an increasingly tense relegation battle.
Bruce has refused to accept it is a scrap between the Geordies, Fulham and Brighton to avoid the drop, saying all the sides up to
13th are under threat.
Toon host Wolves today needing nothing but a win, and Bruce hit back at suggestions he was wrong to be caught laughing with Manchester United boss
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (above) after last week’s defeat at Old Trafford.
Bruce said: “We are coming to the tickly part.
When the daffodils are up that is the sign the crux of the season is upon us.
“Fulham won two in a week. What a difference that makes. It is all to play for. It is not just Fulham. There are six or seven looking nervously over their shoulders. We are one of them. There is a long way to go. All to play for.
“We still have a lead. It is the accumulation of points over a season and that will not change for me. Can we finish above them? I am quietly confident we can do that.
“Burnley, Brighton are above us. Southampton are having a bad run. We have to try to get over the line and get as many points as we can.
“Is Wolves a must-win? It would be nice to win. With 13 games to go, that’s a lot.
The daffodils are coming up, that is the first sign of big games.”
Asked about his joke with Solskjaer, Bruce said: “I have known Ole for 20 years. If I am caught smiling with him... he was complimenting us on how well we played. “So if it is a bad thing that I have smiled with Ole, fortunately I am OK, let it be.”
Bruce is expected to axe keeper Karl Darlow and bring back former player of the year Martin Dubravka. And he has admitted Callum Wilson could be back after the international break to face Brighton.
Joe Willock has ordered United to bury their relegation worries in the next two weeks.
The on-loan Arsenal midfielder reckons a victory tonight against Wolves can see off the challenge of Fulham and be a big step to Premier League safety (Isaac Hayden looks dejected after Old Trafford defeat, left).
Willock said: “They are trying to pull us back into the relegation battle but, if we get points from these games, we put that to bed.
“That is what we are looking to do. We are fighting together and we have enough depth in the squad to do that.”
Asked if fear was creeping in at St James’ Park, the England Under-21 star added: “I sense big determination. I feel like we have a togetherness and more than enough ability to get out of where we are right now.
“We have just played two topfour teams and that was not easy. In the next few games, I will show what I can do.”
ENGLISH football’s busiest goalkeeper somehow found the time to save more shots than anyone else after organising 6,000 meals for kids in 61 schools across Birmingham.
When he was not tipping Harry Maguire’s header on to the post in the dying seconds against Manchester United, Sam Johnstone was dipping his hand in his pocket – donating £700 in the whip-round for a van driver delivering key workers’ meals whose vehicle was destroyed by fire.
And when football was suspended last year, Johnstone warmed up for promotion by paying for meals and drinks to be delivered to NHS and care home staff in Preston, his home town.
“I’d never really done anything like that before,” said Johnstone. “But I’m in a privileged position and people out there are struggling.
“There’s a lot of footballers out there doing their bit for good causes. We’re not the bad guys, there are people a lot richer than us who could help more.
“Look at what Marcus Rashford has done. It’s nice to help, and football has shown a little bit of care goes a long way.”
If England caps were awarded for charitable feats, Johnstone would be in the squad already.
But if he’s not in the frame now, Gareth Southgate is looking at the wrong pictures in the art gallery.
Johnstone’s last-gasp save to deny United – where he spent 15 years on the books as man and boy without making a single first-team appearance – made you believe a man can fly.
“Obviously, I know a few of the staff, and afterwards they were giving me grief,” he laughed. “But stopping shots and headers is what I’m there for.”
West Brom’s desperate struggle to find a foothold in the quicksand should not impair Johnstone’s England claims.
He belongs in the same bracket as Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope and Dean Henderson, and the Baggies’ defensive record – only Wigan and Swindon have conceded more goals in all four divisions – can’t be laid at his door alone. A rare clean sheet for Albion’s 10 men gave them fresh hope of the Gre 2.0 as a sequel to Bryan Robson class of 2005.
But the margin for error, sta this weekend’s home date with is now painfully narrow.
“Everyone knows I’ve been there is a stat which says I’ve most saves in the Premier Le season,” said Johnstone.
“It sounds daft, because I h football matches, but I’m enj test of being in the Premier Le making saves to deny some of t best players.
“Being busy is a tough one: it, you’re in goal to make saves – job – and I want to help the te
“We should have won at That’s probably the quietest had since we were promoted, a clean sheet, something to bu