Newcastle United is facing a significant squad shortage as they prepare for Tuesday night’s Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund. Head coach Eddie Howe will have to cope with the absence of at least 12 first-team players for the group stage encounter, prompting him to call up players from the club’s Under-21 squad to bolster his bench.
Youngsters Lewis Miley, Ben Parkinson, and Lucas De Bolle have been included in the squad for the Dortmund match due to the shortage of available senior players.
Injuries have hit Newcastle hard, with the likes of Dan Burn, Jacob Murphy, Matt Targett, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Elliot Anderson, Harvey Barnes sidelined. Additionally, Sandro Tonali is suspended, and Matt Ritchie, Emil Krafth, Javier Manquillo, and Mark Gillespie are not part of the squad.
Despite this availability crisis, Eddie Howe expressed his acceptance of the situation, especially with a hectic fixture schedule. He stated, “You just see who’s fit and who’s available. We’ve added a couple of younger players to the squad but we’ll go with that, that’s all we can do. You’re always going to get injuries, the problem with the injuries for us is that a lot of them are on the longer-term scale, which means there’s no relief coming around the corner, which means every game you play, you’re in a dangerous position.”
Howe further emphasized that despite the challenges, he and the team wouldn’t have it any other way and have enjoyed the recent games, even though they have come at a cost in terms of injuries. He acknowledged that injuries can happen at any moment and cited Dan Burn’s injury against Arsenal as an example.
In response to the depleted squad, Howe hinted at deploying Kieran Trippier at left-back and Tino Livramento at right-back, as he did in the second half against Arsenal. He also mentioned Lewis Hall as another option, recalling his strong performance in a previous match against Manchester United, where he was an attacking asset and scored a great goal. Howe is keeping his tactical options open for the upcoming game against Dortmund but sees these possibilities as valuable for the team.
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