DESPERATE to beat Mourinho & compete in Champions League! Eddie Howe | Newcastle v Benfica

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says his team are ‘desperate’ to enjoy success in the Champions League this season, with Jose Mourinho back at St. James’ Park tomorrow night as the Geordies entertain Benfica. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 0:01 How are you feeling after the weekend? Game’s come around quickly? I said similar after the Arsenal game, we feel like we need another game, we’re delighted to play quickly. A lot of good in Brighton game, but we know we need to improve. 0:30 Player availability? Sandro touch and go because of illness. 0:55 Mourinho - have you followed his post PL career? I can’t do too much following. I hugely admire José! As a younger coach I really admired the teams he built at Chelsea in particular. He’s a visionary, he broke the mould in terms of how you manage. It’s incredible what he’s achieved in his career. It’s an incredible opportunity for the club to go up against him. 2:00 Crowd going to give the players a boost? It’s a great opportunity for us. We love these games. Barca could’ve been a very different outcome. We’ve been very competitive this season. The atmosphere will be electric no doubt. I hope our performance mirrors the crowds energy. 3:00 Early success vs Jose, memories? Any PL win is savoured! At that stage Chelsea were one of the strongest teams in the league. I look back on those games fondly, this game’s very different. We’re desperate to qualify. 3:50 How important is it for Ramsey etc to step up? They’re very good players, we’ve got a really strong midfield this year even if one player (Tonali) is missing. 4:45 How do you assess the start to the season? Frustrating, we’re so close to being something more and getting better results than we’ve had. A couple of defensive laps cost us at Brighton. We’re working really hard to create chances. A brilliant goal from Woltemade. You make your own luck. We’re not far away! 5:45 Lessons from start of UCL campaign? Touch wood, fitness wise we’re pretty good, despite having three out