Andy Carroll has withdrawn from the England Under-21 squad for tomorrow nights match against Uzbekistan at Ashton Gate.
Carroll came off at half-time with a back injury in the match against Rangers at the weekend, and was closely followed by Jose Enrique who also suffered a some form of knock.
There is still a week to go until our opening game of the season, so a lot will depend on the seriousness of any injuries sustained before any panic buttons can start being pressed. They certainly didn’t look like major injuries to me though, but slight niggles can be deceptive, and we already know that Chris Hughton tends not to risk players who are carrying little niggles, unless it is absolutely necessary of course. (more…)
Jose Enrique could make a return to the squad after missing out on the last six matches. The 24-year-old and £6.5million-rated Spanish left-back, has been one of Newcastle’s best players this season, but with initially no natural replacement it was feared that the Spanish defender, nicknamed ‘The Bull’, would be a big loss.
Chris Hughton brought in Chelsea’s young left-back, Van Aanholt, 19, who had a previous loan spell at Coventry City to cover the position for a month. The young Dutchman has done well when called upon and has turned in some decent performances considering the shoes he’s been filling in the position.
Hughton will have the option to extend Van Aanholt’s loan from an initial one month period to until the end of the season. Personally, I’d like to see him given the opportunity here as he won’t feature for Chelsea (injuries permitting) and there’s always the danger of Enrique falling to injury again.
Enrique’s last game for Newcastle was the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, now nearly over a month ago. Hughton has the decision to instantly bring Jose back for his guaranteed experience, or stick with Van Aanholt who hasn’t really put a foot wrong. However, seeing as Hughton only rates Enrique as “hopeful” for Watford, it would be assumed that in keeping with his usual ‘safe approach’, the manager will stick with Van Aanholt. (more…)
In yesterday morning’s papers, Magpie left back, Jose ‘the Bull’ Enrique fretted that the recent defensive crisis might derail Newcastle United’s bovine promotion charge. Later, in the evening’s home game against Crystal Palace, he became a casualty himself. Circling his hands, he then limped off almost immediately with a hamstring injury after 26 minutes. The talented but inexperienced Tamas Kadar stepped into the breach, however he has already been slotting in for centre back, Steven Taylor, and right backs, Ryan Taylor and Danny Simpson too.
Though new big lad, Mike Williamson, seemed to plug Steven Taylor’s central hole very adequately considering his lack of group training etc, the Toon backline is now becoming like the trenches of the Somme, and though out on the left, Enrique’s loss would perhaps be the greatest of all if it is for a long period. It would also break the Latin triangle of Enrique, Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez, which has been such an effective part of the Magpie machine this term.
Speaking on Enrique’s injury in a post match interview, manager, Chris Hughton said that he would know more today about the seriousness of the injury, adding: (more…)
Newcastle United’s Shola Ameobi is likely to return to first-team duty by early December according to Chris Hughton.
Shola suffered a stress fracture of the foot in August but has already begun light training. Hughton said:
“The good news with Shola is that he has no adverse reaction to the original injury and he’s started doing work on it again.
“He’s with us over this fortnight and he’s continuing to work at it. We are looking at a pre-Christmas return for Shola, and we’re thinking it should be early December at the moment, which would obviously be a big boost for everyone because he is a big player for us.
“He is with us at the moment, and I think it is a slightly frustrating time for him because he cannot really do any weight-bearing training with the foot at the moment. Obviously the most important thing is making sure he is right, so we don’t want to rush anything, but his progress has been quite good.
“In his absence we’ve managed to get Marlon Harewood and he has brought some quality to the squad, but obviously the more players that we have capable of scoring goals the better, so it would be good to have him back.” (more…)