Lewis Hall of Newcastle United arrives at the stadium prior to the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Newcastle United and Bradford City at St James' Park on September 24, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)placeholder image
Lewis Hall of Newcastle United arrives at the stadium prior to the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Newcastle United and Bradford City at St James' Park on September 24, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Lewis Hall was an unused substitute as Newcastle United lost 3-1 at West Ham United on Sunday.
Lewis Hall returned to the Newcastle United matchday squad after a month out with a hamstring injury.
The 21-year-old was named on the bench at West Ham United but didn’t get on the pitch as Newcastle fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Jacob Murphy gave The Magpies the lead at the London Stadium before a Lucas Paqueta strike and Sven Botman own goal saw West Ham lead 2-1 at the break. Substitute Tomas Soucek then made it 3-1 deep into stoppage time.
At half-time, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe made an uncharacteristic triple substitution as Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth made way for Jacob Ramsey, William Osula and Fabian Schar.
Howe then brought on Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga for Sven Botman and Jacob Murphy, prompting further positional changes.
The end result was a confused and ultimately ineffective display from Newcastle, all while Dan Burn remained at left-back and Hall remained on the bench.
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Why Lewis Hall remained on the bench v West Ham
Following the match, Howe explained that Hall’s very recent return to training and the lack of other substitute options were the reasons why he wasn’t risked against The Hammers.
“Yeah, I was very reluctant to put him on,” Howe told The Gazette. “I mean, we had no other senior professionals to put on the bench.
“If we did, then he wouldn't have been on there. But he's done one training session with us and I don't want to push him too early.”
Newcastle had Yoane Wissa, Tino Livramento, Kieran Trippier and Harrison Ashby unavailable due to confirmed issues, while Jamaal Lascelles and Alex Murphy didn’t travel. Lascelles hasn’t started a competitive match for Newcastle since suffering an ACL injury against West Ham United in March 2024 while left-back alternative Murphy suffered an injury in his previous Under-21s appearance against Crystal Palace earlier in the week.
Eddie Howe explains NUFC substitutions v West Ham
Explaining his changes in the match, Howe said: “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment in the game and it's very, very rare for me to feel that way.
“In fact, I don't think I have since I've been manager of Newcastle, so I felt the team needed some shaking up at half-time, that's why I did what I did.”
While it was a positive to see Hall back on the bench, the wait to see the defender back in action continues as Newcastle manage his return to full fitness after a lengthy absence and last month’s fresh blow.
Next up for Newcastle is Athletic Club in the Champions League on Wednesday night at St James’ Park.
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