Newcastle United’s Yoane Wissa has opened up about his difficult season with the Premier League side.
The striker joined Newcastle United from Brentford for £50m [€57.5m] towards the end of last summer.
A knee injury forced him to spend close to four months on the sidelines and delayed his Newcastle United debut until December. This prevented him from replicating his Bees form at St James’ Park.
The DR Congo international managed 20 goals and five assists from 39 matches for the Bees last season. However, he only has three goals and an assist from 22 matches for Eddie Howe’s side so far.
His Premier League stats with Newcastle United are as follows:
Appearances: 13
Starts: 4
Total minutes: 436
Minutes per game: 34
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
Big chances created: 0
Shots on target per game: 0.4
Newcastle United man lacks rhythm
Yoane Wissa is now with the national team, preparing for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Jamaica later today. The fixture will take place at Akron Stadium, which is near Guadalajara, Mexico.
On Monday, the striker spoke to the reporters in the mixed zone and Fox Sports Mexico have relayed his comments. The 29-year-old talks about his struggles with an injury and fitness issues.
“Yes, I feel good now. I feel much better. It’s true, as you said, I struggled with the injury. Even when I came back, it was hard to get back into rhythm. But now I’m in a good place, mentally. So, I’m happy to be here today,” he said.
Back in January, Sport Witness relayed news that Wissa’s fitness situation was one of the reasons Newcastle United weren’t in favour of sanctioning William Osula’s move to Eintracht Frankfurt in the winter market.
His immediate focus is on the clash against Jamaica. DR Congo haven’t made it to the World Cup for 52 years and have an opportunity to make history on Tuesday.
“We’ve needed this opportunity for years. We know the pressure is on us today. So, we’re happy to be playing this match, because we had an African playoff where the lads did very well. Now we know we can do it. We have 90 minutes, or more, to make history,” Wissa explained.
“No, I don’t think we’re the favourites. I think we have to be humble enough to say that we can win, but we can also lose. So no, we’re not the favourites because it’s been a long time; we haven’t been in a World Cup. They’ve been more consistent over the years. It will be a close match. I think we’re ready to play it.”
DR Congo squad for March international break
2-0 friendly win over Bermuda
World Cup qualifier v Jamaica on March 31st
Sébastien Desabre’s full squad:
Goalkeepers: Timothé Fayulu (FC Noah), Lionel Mpasi-Nzau (Le Havre), Mathieu Epolo (Standard Liège)
Defenders: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United), Jeremy Ngakia (Watford), Joris Kayembe (Genk), Arthur Masuaku (RC Lens), Steve Kapuadi (Widzew Łódź ), Rocky Bushiri (Hibernian), Axel Tuanzebe (Burnley), Chancel Mbemba (Lille), Dylan Batubinsika (Larisa)
Midfielders: Noah Sadiki (Sunderland), Samuel Moutoussamy (Atromitos), Edo Kayembe (Watford), Ngala Mukaou (Lille), Charles Pickel (Espanyol), Nathanael Mbuku (Montpellier) Brian Silbenga (Castellón), Grady Diangana (Elche), Meshack Elia (Alanyaspor), Theo Bongonda (Spartak Moscow)
Forwards: Fiston Mayele (Pyramids), Cedric Bakambu (Real Betis), Simon Banza (Al Jazira), Yoane Wissa (Newcastle United)