Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Joe WillockNewcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Joe Willock
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Joe Willock | AFP via Getty Images
Newcastle United were without Joe Willock for their 4-2 defeat at Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Willock was named on the bench for the 3-3 draw against Liverpool on Wednesday night having started at Crystal Palace three days earlier.
He was introduced in the latter stages versus Liverpool but didn’t travel to the Gtech Community Stadium. With the Magpies chasing the game from 56 minutes onwards, Willock would likely have been one of Eddie Howe’s substitutions.
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Joe WillockNewcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Joe Willock
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Joe Willock | AFP via Getty Images
However, Newcastle’s head coach was unable to call upon the 25-year-old after he missed out with a hamstring issue.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Howe explained. “He’s had a hamstring problem, a very minor one.”
Howe made two changes to his starting XI with Harvey Barnes and Sean Longstaff replacing Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, who were rested. The pair were introduced on the hour-mark but could not prevent Newcastle from losing.
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“I think today was a difficult game to come on to because of the conditions and trying to pick up the speed of the game, naturally you're going to be cold,” said Howe.
“I thought Anthony looked good when he came on, I've got no issue with his performance. Midfield was an area where we weren't as strong in the second half. We had some tired bodies and couldn't change everybody.
“The Liverpool game took a lot out of us and I would have liked to rotate a little more but due loads of different reasons, I didn't feel like I was able to do that because of the fitness of some of the players on the bench not being up to the level needed to start a Premier League game.”
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