Newcastle United 1-3 Manchester City: Eddie Howe was trying to contend with several fitness issues when naming his team in the FA Cup.
Newcastle United were beaten 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth round by Manchester City on Saturday evening.
Harvey Barnes’ early opener was cancelled out by Savinho in the first half before an Omar Marmoush brace saw City progress to the quarter-finals.
The Magpies were without Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis Miley, Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth due to injury while Jacob Ramsey missed out due to suspension following his controversial sending off against Manchester United on the Wednesday leading up to the match.
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Newcastle United injuries
But the quick turnaround in matches and busy fixture schedule across multiple competitions continues to take its toll on the squad to the point where players named in the matchday squads are not fully fit.
Eddie Howe previously admitted to naming Lewis Miley on the bench in the 4-1 defeat against Liverpool in January despite the midfielder being injured. Miley didn’t get on the pitch in that game and has not been part of a matchday squad since.
And Saturday’s FA Cup tie saw more of the same as Anthony Gordon was named on the bench having been nursing a minor ankle issue following the win over Man United. Gordon came out of the side as one of four changes made by Howe as he was replaced by William Osula up front.
Dan Burn, Joelinton and the suspended Ramsey also came out in place of Sven Botman, Nick Woltemade and Joe Willock.
While Gordon, Joelinton and Burn all got on the pitch in the second half against Manchester City, there was one player who remained an unused substitute.
Jacob Murphy hidden injury revealed
Jacob Murphy was named on the bench but Howe had already made the concious decision not to use him during the match due to a neck problem.
“We're in a cycle where we just need to get some players back fit and get some of the strength back in the group,” Howe explained.
“Again, I couldn't use Jacob Murphy today because of a neck problem which he suffered yesterday and wanted to see how he felt in the warm-up to see if I could use him.
“So we were really stretched today again and I think the lads that played gave everything but we just ran out of energy.”
Newcastle will be hoping to have Murphy back available to use in Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg tie against Barcelona at St James’ Park.
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