Newcastle United find themselves down to the bare bones ahead of two crunch encounters in the capital.
First up, the Magpies head to the London Stadium for a clash with West Ham as they bid to keep their season alive in terms of a Champions League bid. Then, later next week, it’s on to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool with Eddie Howe treading carefully with his preparations.
During a tough week, Newcastle have lost the services of Lewis Hall, Anthony Gordon and Sven Botman for injuries and a suspension. Jamaal Lascelles and Jamal Lewis, with the Northern Ireland international still registered to play, are long-term occupants of the treatment room.
Throw in the fact that Newcastle have five keepers on the books, with Howe naming two stoppers on the bench to make the numbers up at times, the Magpies are looking threadbare. Howe admits that training time must be monitored carefully at Benton.
Under the supervision of performance director James Bunce, Newcastle have also had to keep a close eye on two players carrying knocks this week in Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento.
Howe, speaking at his press conference today, said: “You have to be relaxed on it because I am a firm believer in what will be will be. “You can’t change fate in some respects. We train smart, we are not training too long.
“Our training has been controlled, as it has been all season, but you can’t wrap people up in cotton wool, and if you want the team to be competitive, you have to train competitively, so it’s a really delicate thing.
“You can’t change the psyche too much. We can’t change what we have always done. Training is competitive, but that is to the benefit of the team’s performance.”
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