Newcastle boss Steve Bates is adamant discipline must not let his side down against Overmach Parma on Saturday.
Newcastle boss will be keeping a close eye on his charges
Newcastle Falcons boss Steve Bates is adamant discipline must not let his side down against Overmach Parma on Saturday.
The Falcons take on the surprise Heineken Cup Pool Four leaders at the Stadio XXV Aprile knowing they must do a job on the Italians to get their European campaign back on track.
Defeat away against Brive last time out was a setback but Bates expects quickfire home and away victories to put his side back on course for the quarter-finals.
"I am expecting Parma to be fired up. They will look to put the ball in behind us and apply a bit of pressure at the back," he said.
"They will be hoping that we are as indisciplined as we were last week [against Wasps] so they can just kick their goals, but obviously we are aware of all these things and we will be working to prevent them happening.
"We have a very clear and simple game-plan, but that has to be underpinned first by hard work in the forwards and much tighter discipline than we saw last week."
Boost
England's Jamie Noon returns from international duty meanwhile and Bates is keen to see how his centre operates alongside New Zealand import Tane Tu'ipulotu in the midfield.
"I am looking forward to seeing how Tane and Jamie link up as a partnership," he added.
"After a month away with England, Jamie is absolutely raring to go. He wants to get straight back out there, and I believe it is a midfield pairing capable of causing some problems."
