OPINION
Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez has been given a tough task this season after owner Mike Ashley failed to back him in the summer window, and the Magpies have begun the campaign sluggishly as a result.
Benitez missed out on several top targets over the summer due to Ashley’s refusal to release enough funds, and there are now a few areas of the Newcastle squad that are badly lacking enough depth.
One of those positions is at wing-back, with first choice players DeAndre Yedlin and Paul Dummett backed up by Javier Manquillo and Achraf Lazaar.
Both Manquillo and Lazaar have hardly played any first-team football over the past season or so, and the Spaniard is also carrying an injury sustained when deputising for Yedlin against Cardiff two games ago.
That led Benitez to hand a start to academy player Jamie Sterry against Nottingham Forest, before the 22-year-old was expected to leave the club on loan before Friday’s EFL loan deadline.
That temporary exit has not happened however, and according to Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder, Sterry has been kept at the club due to a lack of squad depth at right-back.
Looks like Jamie Sterry will be staying due to lack of depth in #nufc squad.
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) August 31, 2018
This is a blow for both the club and the player, who will have been hoping for a chance to play regular first-team football and attempt to impress at a lower level.
Instead, Sterry will have to remain at the club and be resigned to the occasional bench appearance while plying his trade for the Under-23s as usual.
This will not be beneficial at all to his development, because at 22 years old, Sterry needs as much first-team football as possible.
There is not much that Benitez can do to help the youngster at this point, but what he can do, he must.
That involves bringing Sterry into first-team training on a permanent basis and fully integrating him into the squad in an attempt to expose him to that kind of environment as much as possible.
Making him feel like he is part of the squad will go some way to easing his disappointment of not being able to secure a loan exit, and that in turn could lead to more opportunities like the one handed to him against Forest.
Manquillo has not exactly impressed for the club since joining last summer, and that means that second-choice right-back slot is there for the taking.
Giving Sterry the chance to claim it for his own is the only thing that Benitez can do now, and he must do so immediately.
