Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has revealed why first team duo Federico Fernandez and Kenedy missed Saturday’s win over Cardiff City.
Both players have been out with injuries of late, however, the Spaniard has confirmed that neither man’s absence was due to any sort of muscle problem.
“Fernandez and Kenedy both have a virus, so we were surprised the day before,” he told the Shields Gazette.
Benitez was also without defender Paul Dummett and central midfielders Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame for the 3-0 win over the Bluebirds.
OPINION
This has cleared things up a bit. Both players have been absent recently due to injury so it was largely assumed that they were still recovering from their setbacks. However, clearly it was something different that waylaid them on Saturday. Whether they will be back in time to welcome Watford to St James’ Park in the FA Cup on Saturday remains to be seen. Both men suddenly have a fight on their hands to regain their first team spots once they return, having been regulars in Rafael Benitez’s starting line up prior to their setbacks. A three man central defensive unit of Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Florian Lejeune excelled against Cardiff and it would be a surprise to see Fernandez usurp one of that trio moving forward. Kenedy, meanwhile, only has himself to blame. He has been poor this campaign and doesn’t deserve to start ahead of Ayoze Perez, Christian Atsu or even young Cal Roberts.
