The extent of Dwight Gayle’s latest injury has been revealed and it is bad news for Newcastle fans.
Gayle limped off after just 33 minutes against Aston Villa after suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury which left him sidelined for the six matches prior to Monday night.
He will now miss all of Newcastle’s key promotion clashes against Huddersfield, Brighton and Reading in the next fortnight before undergoing further assessments after those matches. Newcastle are likely to be without Gayle for up to a month, however, as Rafa Benitez does not want to rush the Championship’s top scorer back and risk him sustaining another injury.
His absence could not have come at a worse time as Newcastle face successive trips to all three of their promotion rivals, but there is still reason to keep the faith.
Of the eight league games Gayle has not featured in for Newcastle this season, the Magpies were triumphant on seven occasions – drawing the other.
Backup striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored six times in his last nine starts and currently boasts more assists (3) this season than Dwight Gayle on 2; averaging a goal contribution every 105 minutes.
It is not just goals that Mitrovic brings to the table; he also adds a different dimension to Rafa’s Newcastle side. Unlike Gayle who tends to occupy advanced positions, focusing almost entirely on goalscoring, Mitrovic creates chances for his teammates with his much-improved hold-up play. The young Serb often drops deeper in possession to bring others into play and has created more than twice as many chances per 90 as Gayle this campaign with 1.96 – compared to Gayle’s 0.95.
Mitrovic contributing to the build-up play takes some of the goalscoring pressure off his shoulders as he brings his onrushing teammates into play in advanced positions; which is reflected by Newcastle averaging 2.2 goals per games in which the 22-year-old has started.
The pressure still remains on Mitrovic’s shoulders to succeed and he must fight to keep his place in Gayle’s absence with Daryl Murphy also competing for the starting spot. This is the opportunity for Mitrovic to silence his critics by stepping up in Newcastle’s time of need.
