Eddie Howe has played down any suggestion that there could lingering ill feeling between Mikel Arteta and himself after the pair had a feisty exchange on the Emirates touchline back in January.
Title-chasing Arsenal make the trip to St. James' Park on Sunday knowing anything less than a victory against hosts Newcastle would all but end their faint hopes of catching reigning champions Manchester City. Meanwhile, the Magpies could all but guarantee Champions League football with a win of their own.
Therefore, the stakes are high and the pressure is on, much like it was in the reverse fixture in north London at the turn of the year. The points were shared that night as the two sides played out a thrilling 0-0 draw that saw tempers flare on the touchline.
Newcastle became the first team to take points off of Arsenal on their own patch with the draw, but it was certainly a well-earned one as they were forced to cling on with all their might at times.
Arsenal dominated possession and had more than double the amount of shots on goal as their visitors, though their main frustration came just before the full-time whistle when the Gunners felt they deserved a penalty for an alleged Jacob Murphy handball.
The Arsenal players, manager and coaching staff were united in their fury as they surrounded the referee and fourth official who were firm in their stance a spot-kick should not have been awarded.
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The passionate protests irked Howe who was watching on from his technical area and as a result ended up embroiled in a heated exchange with Arteta on the touchline.
With that in mind, the Newcastle boss has had to filed questions on his relationship with the Arsenal manager at the moment ahead of their reunion on Sunday.
"Fine. I’ve got a lot of respect for Mikel. I think he’s done an incredible job when you consider the team that he picked up and the position they were in to the team that he has now and the way that they’re playing."
Howe continued to heap praise on his Arsenal counterpart, before addressing the fall-out back in January as he insisted it is all water under the bridge now.
"That’s a brilliant coaching job, you have to admire everything that he’s done, whether that’s recruitment, coaching, everything. So a lot of respect from me to him.
"Within a game you’ll always have moments where you come up against opponents and there’s a bit of confrontation – I think that’s natural, that’s part of the job – but there’s certainly no issues my side."
