OPINION
Rafa Benitez has seen his Newcastle United side play three games in December so far and have no wins to show for their efforts.
The Magpies boss witnessed his side outclassed by West Ham before valiantly battling their way to point against Everton days later and then saw them robbed of victory at the death against Wolves on Sunday.
With three games coming in quick succession and no feel-good win to keep morale high, Benitez must take proactive action by injecting new life into his starting line-up for the clash with Huddersfield Town.
Luckily for the Spanish manager the perfect option is waiting in the wings and is no doubt chomping at the bit to get his first Premier League start.
Enter midfielder Sean Longstaff.
The 20-year-old has been hovering around the first-team set-up all season but is yet to taste Premier League action.
Longstaff has been unused substitute for the league clashes with Chelsea, Manchester City, Leicester City, West Ham, Everton and Wolves.
The midfielder has observed enough of his teammates playing in the Premier League this season firsthand to know what is expected of him and his enthusiasm and energetic presence could be the spark that gets the Magpies to winning ways against Huddersfield Town.
Longstaff impressed to some degree in the only senior appearances he has made for the Magpies earlier this season, as he was only positive to take from the disappointing EFL Cup loss to Nottingham Forest in August.
The Magpies youngster looked comfortable in possession and his passing seem able to help his side maintain a foothold in the game.
Given that Mohamed Diame hasn’t overly been knocking it out of the park then Benitez could axe the veteran midfielder in order to see if Longstaff can deliver on his potential.
That way if the 20-year-old does struggle to play in the Premier League then Benitez can always call on to Diame to bail the youngster out.
By starting Longstaff for the Premier League clash with the Terriers then Benitez may catch the opponents by surprise and this could play into their hands.
Also given that Huddersfield have been struggling this season and currently sit 18th, then there are a few better teams to test Longstaff out against without it being too much for him.
Therefore this all means that Benitez should unleash Longstaff into his first-team on Saturday as the midfielder would inject new life into the Magpies in order to help them get three points on the board.
