Newcastle Utd News

Report: £6.3m-rated Newcastle man tipped to face Aston Villa as Bruce plots injury cover

|

Newcastle United centre-back Paul Dummett has been tipped to face Aston Villa on Monday night by the Chronicle, as Steve Bruce plots how he will cover injuries in defence.

Bruce will be without our skipper Jamaal Lascelles for the trip to Birmingham, as the 26-year-old has been ruled out until the New Year after sustaining a knee injury in our 2-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth prior to the international break.

The Derby-born defender suffered the blow during a collision with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka after just 20 minutes, and was replaced by Dummett as the five-time Wales international earned his first substantial minutes since September.

Dummett had begun the campaign as one of Bruce’s first-choice centre-halves, but lost his place in the side when we hosted Manchester United after moving to left-back when we lost at Leicester City.

Bruce is now expected to make a direct swap with Dummett stepping in for Lascelles against Aston Villa, in a side that will feature very few alterations from the eleven who beat Bournemouth last time out.

Should Dummett replace Lascelles vs Aston Villa?

Yes, absolutely

No, Schar should

No, Lejeune should

Our backline at Villa Park will be where most of Bruce’s adaptations will be made, with £6.3million-rated Dummett potentially set to be partnered by one of Fabian Schar or Florian Lejeune after the pair were deemed fit to play.

Lejeune is yet to feature this season after rupturing his left anterior cruciate knee ligament during our 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in April, while Schar has not played since suffering a knee injury in our visit to Chelsea last month and sitting out Switzerland’s final Euro 2020 qualifiers because of the blow.

Either could feature against the Villans on Monday night as Ciaran Clark took a knock while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland, and is now the club’s biggest concern ahead of the game.

Share this article

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *