OPINION
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge saw Newcastle United forward Dwight Gayle return to the first-team fold.
The prolific forward has been missing from the Magpies’ set up ever since picking up an injury in pre-season and was given the opportunity to come on in the final five minutes in London.
Gayle returned to St James’ Park after his loan spell with West Brom in the Championship and has already made more of an impact under Steve Bruce than he ever did under Rafael Benitez.
The forward never really got on the good side of the Spaniard and was shipped out when Benitez made the decision to bring in Salomon Rondon to partner Ayoze Perez.
With both of those players sealing exits away from the North East in the summer, Bruce was left with Yoshinori Muto and Gayle as his only two options.
Then came in Andy Carroll and Joelinton, with the latter leading the line in every game this season, only scoring once in the victory against Tottenham.
Newcastle haven’t scored more than one goal in a single game yet this season and failed to even have a shot on target in the defeat against Chelsea.
The time is coming for Bruce to make a change upfront, and Gayle returning from injury couldn’t have come at a better time for the Magpies.
Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder shared that Gayle was visibly frustrated against Chelsea due to the lack of service in his cameo, something he made clear to Ciaran Clark at the full-time whistle.
Bruce must find a way to utilise that anger by unleashing the forward in their next game against Wolves, and hopefully, that will see him terrorise their defence.
The Magpies’ boss should give Gayle the chance to prove himself in the Premier League one final time, and potentially find an answer to his goalscoring problems.
