Newcastle Utd News

Bruce has backing of pundit amid big setback for Newcastle – report

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Another game, another injury.

It’s been an uphill battle for Steve Bruce and his Newcastle this season, and he hasn’t been made any easier with Ciaran Clark hobbling off against Arsenal on the weekend.

The defender was seen leaving the Emirates Stadium on crutches following the club’s 4-0 defeat, subsequently being replaced by Swiss international Fabian Schar.

According to Premier Injuries, the club currently has 10 players ruled out – and it’s been that way for a while. For context, nobody else currently has more than seven.

Thankfully, the club has a large number of options in central defence to not disrupt Bruce from his five-man defence. Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez and Florian Lejeune are other options who are all fit, with Paul Dummett also being out injured until the end of the season.

Despite the injury, former Leeds and Tottenham player and pundit Michael Brown says that, even with the Clark set back being very worrying, Bruce will be able to manage through the adversity.

Has Clark been our best centre-back this season?

Yes

No

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “He’s up against it, you’d have said at the start of the season what type of squad, what type of system he’s got, he’s going to struggle. The results that they’ve had, they’ve done extremely well.

“Through adversity, we’ve seen them losing two players in the first half-an-hour in games, he’s probably getting used to how to adapt, that’s the experience he’s got with the amount of minutes and amount of games that he’s managed.

“It doesn’t stop for Steve Bruce regarding the amount of injuries he’s getting.”

Despite Newcastle leaking a lot of goals in recent weeks, they still have had much of their joy coming this season through their solidity and defensive performances.

Only Crystal Palace – their upcoming opponents on the weekend – have scored fewer goals than them in the Premier League. In terms of goals conceded, they have let in 40, which isn’t particularly great reading after 40 games, but it should be noted that they have recorded seven clean sheets, the seventh highest in the division.

The ability to keep teams at bay within the league is a large reason for their good season so far. Against Palace on the weekend, it is likely to be another low-scoring affair, with the first goal going to be crucial.

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