Will Osula was a late substitute during Newcastle United's 4-1 defeat at Coventry City (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)
Will Osula was a late substitute during Newcastle United's 4-1 defeat at Coventry City (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)
NEWCASTLE UNITED’S returning players are still a couple of weeks away from being back to full fitness, meaning Matthias Jaissle could struggle to make wholesale changes for Saturday’s home game with Aston Villa.
Jaissle watched his side crash to a second successive 4-1 away defeat last night as missed chances and defensive errors proved costly against Coventry City.
The Magpies boss made just one change from the team that had seen off Hull City at St James’ Park prior to the international break, with Nico Gonzalez replacing Sean Steur, even though he had four players returning to the matchday squad after injury lay-offs.
Amar Dedic and Joelinton came on just before the hour mark at the CBS Arena, by which point Newcastle were already two goals down, with Will Osula entering the fray as a replacement for Yoane Wissa in the 78th minute. Dan Burn came off the bench in stoppage time to replace Bazamouna Toure, who picked up an injury after making a substitute appearance of his own in the second half.
Given the scale of his side’s defeat last night, Jaissle must be considering making a number of alterations for Saturday’s home game with Aston Villa. However, when it comes to the four players who left the bench last night, he accepts he will have to continue to tread carefully to avoid further injury setbacks.
“Unfortunately, the match minutes were really limited,” said Jaissle. “We need to be smart because we had so many injuries already, so we followed the advice there. We took the guys to the limit of what they could do. I am happy that they are back, but it will take another couple of weeks before they are physically back to their best again.”
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Osula has been especially badly missed since suffering a foot injury in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool on the opening weekend of the season.
In his absence, Yoane Wissa has spent time playing as a ‘number nine’, with Matias Fernandez-Pardo lining up as the central striker in the last three games.
The £51m summer signing from Lille got himself into some promising positions against Coventry, but failed to make the most of them, and does not really look like a natural ‘number nine’.
However, Jaissle does not want to push Osula too quickly, meaning the youngster is likely to remain on the bench at the weekend.
“Again, this was the maximum of the match minutes that I could give him,” said the Newcastle boss. “Now, we need to see how he is improving over the next few days and weeks.”