It’s been a long January window for Newcastle, and it’s fair to say that most fans will have been expecting more from the club. Nonetheless, the games continue to come thick and fast, and on Saturday, Rafa Benitez will need to put the prospect of transfers to back of his mind.
Indeed, he’s instead got to focus on an FA Cup tie with Watford, and it’s a big game for us. A win could give us some much-needed positivity in a season that has been lacking that for its duration.
Fortunately, Rafa Benitez has offered some good news to fans ahead of the tie.
As per the boss, via the Newcastle Twitter, the trio of Jonjo Shelvey, Paul Dummett and Mo Diame are all edging closer to fitness with their returns likely to come over the course of the next few days or weeks.
RB: “Shelvey, Dummett and Diamé are getting better. Ki came back from the Asian Cup with an injury.” #NUFC
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 25, 2019
Benitez didn’t confirm whether the trio would be available to take on Watford, but even so, this is great news for the club. Especially in the case of Diame and Shelvey, we’ve got a real lack of midfield depth, and so their returns will help to take the load off of players like Sean Longstaff.
Significantly, Shelvey was said to have been in training this week, as per the Newcastle Twitter earlier this week, and so you’ve got to assume that he’s close to a return. Perhaps he’ll feature against Man City on Tuesday, then.
Thoughts?