Eddie Howe has revealed that he always tells his Newcastle United players to 'stand up for each other' after Kieran Trippier's team-mates came to his aid against Everton.
Tempers flared just before half-time of Newcastle's 1-0 win on Wednesday night after Anthony Gordon went down inside the box following a challenge by Dan Burn. Trippier, unimpressed, rushed over to let Gordon know exactly what he thought of his attempts to win a penalty.
A furious Gordon then squared up to Trippier before Fabian Schar arrived on the scene and repeatedly pushed the Everton star. Within seconds, there were 17 players from both sides sizing each other up and Nick Pope, Bruno Guimaraes and Amadou Onana were among those who were shoved.
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The flashpoint summed up the feisty nature of a niggly contest and even Trippier and Jordan Pickford, who are international team-mates, put their friendship aside as they argued at half-time. Newcastle literally had to show some fight to win the game and Howe was heartened by how his side did that while also keeping their heads.
"Unity is the key word," he told reporters before Sunday's trip to Spurs. "I always say to the players that you have to really stand up for each other on the pitch. We have to be like a family on the pitch and there for one another in loads of different ways, whether that's protecting or supporting.
"In that moment, it was a sort of protecting feeling while also keeping our discipline and keeping our control because, in those moments, it's very easy to lose that. As a group, I always urge them that you have to stay very emotionally level while also having each other's backs. That's hugely important."
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