Moyes: Focus solely on Newcastle

David Moyes insists Manchester United’s focus is solely on Newcastle United, not their UEFA Champions League tie with Bayern Munich.

The Scot oversaw a 1-1 draw against the German and European champions in the first leg of their quarter-final on Tuesday to leave them in with a fighting chance heading into Wednesday’s return leg in Munich.

However, the former Everton boss says his side are concentrating all of their efforts on their Premier League fixture at Newcastle on Saturday, where they are looking to avenge a 1-0 home defeat in December.

“The only thing we are thinking about is the Newcastle game,” he said.

“The focus is all on Newcastle. We have to go up there and put on a good performance and get three points, trying to build a little bit of momentum towards the end of the season. We will go there and try to do that.

“Obviously I have got other things on the mind, but the focus is Newcastle and we will try to balance things out correctly.

“We have got an extra day’s recovery. Saturday to Wednesday is better than last week when it was Saturday to Tuesday.

“But the message to the players is that it is Newcastle United, this is the next game and it is the most important one.”

Moyes confirmed that defensive duo Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans could feature at St James’ Park after spells out injured, but that Ryan Giggs and Alex Buttner were both carrying knocks after being substituted on Tuesday.

“We have got Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling back in training,” he added. “That helps us.

“Ryan Giggs picked up a wee bit of an injury in the (Bayern) game and we are not quite so worried about Alex Buttner.

“He is not as bad as when he first came off. We have got Jonny and Chris on the way back, which is important for us because we have missed them through what has arguably been one of the most difficult times of the season for us.

“We could have done with their youth and enthusiasm.”