Newcastle United defender Grant Hanley does not believe the Magpies can use the injuries of Dwight Gayle and Ciaran Clark as an excuse for the club’s poor recent form
Speaking to the Chronicle, Hanley said that Newcastle have a very strong squad and the players should look at themselves for poor recent league performances rather than looking for any other explanation:
“That’s football, and people get injured – that’s part and parcel of the game. We’ve got one of the biggest and strongest squads in the Championship so that’s definitely not an excuse you can use. That’s football and sometimes it goes for you with injuries, sometimes it doesn’t. There’ll be no excuses from the lads. We need to look at ourselves, see where we went wrong, and improve on it.”
Hanley started the Magpies’ last league game in the 3-1 defeat to Ipswich Town on Monday, but has featured only 16 times in all competitions this season since his £5.5m move from Blackburn Rovers in the summer.
The 25 year old took Ciaran Clark’s place in the side after the Irish international was injured in the 3-1 defeat to Fulham in March. He played in the 0-0 draw against Birmingham and the 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic. Chancel Mbemba then replaced him in the team for the games against Burton, Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds.
It remains to be seen whether he will keep his place in side after the Ipswich loss with Clark looking set to return from injury against Preston on Monday.
