Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has vowed to always protect his team.

The Magpies head coach is set to take on Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp at the weekend.

Klopp was warned to be careful by Howe after making comments about Newcastle's financial prowess.

"I will always protect the club if I feel I need to," Howe told reporters.

"I'm not going to make reference to any comment from any individual, but part of my job here is to defend the name of the club and defend everything: the people, the supporters and the players when I feel it's justified to do so."

"We are here to compete," Howe added.

"We are not here to do anything other than try to win the game we are competing in and to not be the team that everyone looks at as good losers. That's not what we want to be.

"That's what I'm trying to instil in the players every day. I want to build a winning mentality, a winning culture. That's not to say that we are going to win or we are promising to win, but we will do everything in our power to try and make that happen."