Pearson Focused On Newcastle

The last time City travelled up the country, they returned with three points after beating Stoke City 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a goal from frontman Leonardo Ulloa.
While that will certainly be the aim when Pearson’s men pay the visit to St James’ Park, the City boss is well aware of the quality and experience that Alan Pardew’s Magpies possess.
He said: “It’s a fantastic place to play football – a great stadium and atmosphere.
“It’s important that the fans enjoy that sort of experience but for us it’s about a job to do and it’s a big game for us – my focus remains very much on us and how we approach games.
“We have to go there and play at our best because regardless of where you go, the sides that are well established have got players that are experienced and quality as well and we’ve got to compete with that – all these games are interesting.
“People want to talk about certain games more than others and yet, I’m not a cliché man, but our most important game now is Newcastle.
“They are a big club with good players.”
The former Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Shrewsbury Town centre-half will be able to draw from his time at the Toon where he had two caretaker spells at the Club in 2007 and 2008.
Pearson said: “[I have] a lot of very good memories. It was an appointment that came very much out the blue – I’d just left West Brom because my manager had left.
“I didn’t expect to be in work as quick. It was a great experience for me at a big club with a lot of very good things about it.
“I still know a lot of people up there who work for the Club and I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
The journey up to the North-East confirmed another sell out, meaning that every Premier League game has had the maximum number of the Blue Army in attendance.
A testament to the fans, Pearson added: “It’s been such a long time since we’ve been in the Premier League. The experience of home and away games – football fans like to experience the big-game feel.
“I don’t see any reason why our fans don’t enjoy the experience. But it’s not about us (players) enjoying it, it’s about being competitive.
“Some of our experiences so far have been very, very good.
“Some of them, we’ve not been able to reproduce performances but you’ve got to remember that that’s not always entirely down to us – that’s sometimes to do with the context of the game – who you’re playing against and styles of play.”