Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin is likely to be on the bench “at the absolute best” against Tottenham this weekend, according to Mark Douglas.
The Chronicle journalist, responding to a supporter on Twitter, says that despite the winger returning to training this week and pushing for a place in the squad against Spurs after a hamstring injury, the best the fans can expect is to see him feature as a substitute.
I think we're talking about a role on the bench at the absolute best Callum.
— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) August 21, 2019
The summer signing was forced to miss out in the Magpies’ 3-1 defeat at Norwich City, having come off the bench for his competitive debut against Arsenal.
The 22-year-old joined Newcastle from French side OGC Nice, where he scored 11 goals and contributed 14 assists in his 76 appearances.
Opinion
Newcastle need something to instigate a change of fortunes and the fans might well have been pinning their hopes on Saint-Maximin’s return to action. They might not have seen much of him so far, with just over 20 minutes of action against Arsenal to his name, but the Toon Army love a maverick French winger and that is exactly what he is. If he can follow in the footsteps of David Ginola, Laurent Robert and Hatem Ben Arfa, then he will quickly become a firm favourite at St James’ Park. Steve Bruce will also be hoping he can make his mark sooner rather than later, with his side looking devoid of ideas in attack against Norwich City. It was a worryingly lacklustre display at both ends of the pitch and some energy, pace and flair could help inject some belief into the team. Unfortunately for Bruce, it looks as though that might have to come off the substitutes’ bench against Tottenham.
