Newcastle may have received a boost ahead of their weekend clash with Crystal Palace, with Roy Hodgson confirming that his side’s camp have been struck down by illness.
While the former England manager confirmed that he’ll have Everton loan striker Cenk Tosun back available, talking to Palace’s website, Hodgson also confirmed that illness may have ruled out two of his players.
The Magpies are set to travel to Croydon to face the Eagles at Selhurst Park on Saturday, as they look to get their first Premier League win in four.
Steve Bruce’s men were on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing when they played Arsenal last weekend, and they will be determined to get back on track, as they look to keep a sizeable gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
Their hopes of getting back to winning ways may have been improved with Hodgson’s illness report, and while the manager doesn’t explain which players could be out, Newcastle could still find that they could benefit. Speaking to Palace’s website, Hodgson said:
We’ve been hit this week, unfortunately, with a little bit of sickness.
So unfortunately there are one or two players who aren’t perhaps at their absolute best, so we will have to keep an eye out tomorrow as to which of those could possibly start the game and which of those will have to start from the bench.
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Bruce himself has one player out with sickness ahead of the game at Selhurst Park this weekend, with Christian Atsu unavailable, but the former Aston Villa boss will be buoyed with a double forward return.
Dwight Gayle and Yoshinori Muto are back fit and available for selection, while Joelinton is “doubtful” after having bruised his thigh, meaning that the Newcastle boss may be forced to experiment with his options.
Ahead of Game Week 27, Newcastle are seven points above the relegation zone, and with 12 games still left to play, their safety isn’t yet a foregone conclusion.
Should Palace suffer two additional losses through illness this week, the Magpies must take advantage of their misfortunate and ensure they take all three points with them back to the North East.
