Newcastle United will be without Jonjo Shelvey, Matt Ritchie, Dwight Gayle, Florian Lejeune, and Isaac Hayden for Sunday’s game against Manchester United, according to the Daily Star.
The newspaper claim on their website that Ritchie was on track with his recovery, but is losing his race to be fit after suffering a setback in training two weeks ago.
The Daily Star reports that despite both Lejeune and Gayle returning to training for the Magpies, neither will be considered for the game against the Red Devils.
Hayden will begin his three-match ban on Sunday, after picking up a red card in the 5-0 defeat against Leicester City last time out.
OPINION
At a time where Bruce is crying out for options in his Newcastle squad, this was not the news he would have wanted. After the 5-0 thrashing away at Leicester, the Magpies’ boss was reported by the Chronicle to be readying changes for the game against Man United – something which will be difficult given his lack of options. Losing both Hayden and Shelvey could be costly for Newcastle, who go into the clash with their midfield looking bare. On top of that, Ritchie and Gayle could have been refreshing additions to the squad, given the recent struggles. Joelinton, Miguel Almiron, and Yoshinori Muto are all struggling to find the back of the net, and Gayle could have been the man to come in and make that difference in the final third. With the list of ruled out players growing for Bruce, it is hard to see where the changes may come from for the game on Sunday.
