Despite the midfielder limping off in Wednesday night’s defeat against Man Utd, the Chronicle’s Lee Ryder has confirmed that Mo Diame is ‘expected to be fit’ for next weekend’s trip to Chelsea.
He looks set to miss Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Blackburn – with Sean Longstaff expected to take his place – however the youngster may not be the only player to make a rare first-team appearance this season, with reports suggesting Florian Lejeune could make his long awaited return to action too.
Back to Diame, here’s a snippet from the Chronicle’s latest piece on his fitness – with the man himself believed to have told journalists after the game that he wouldn’t be out for ‘too long’:
Newcastle United midfielder Mo Diame is expected to be fit in time for the trip to Chelsea on January 12.
Diame was always likely to be rested for the FA Cup clash against Blackburn Rovers with Sean Longstaff poised to get his chance in midfield.
Diame also indicated to journalists he would not be on the sidelines for too long as he left St James’ Park last night.
Diame has his limitations, but he would be a huge miss in midfield if he were to miss a number of games. He’s wasteful and limited in possession, but his work off the ball is priceless.
Not only that, we are hardly blessed with a great of midfield options right now, with Ki away at the Asian Cup, Hayden reiterating his desire to leave today and Shelvey still getting back up to speed after several weeks out.
Let’s hope Diame can benefit from the rest and be back fit at his formidable best at Chelsea next weekend. In the mean time, Lejeune’s return to the fold is a huge boost, with it looking increasingly likely that he and Longstaff start in Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Blackburn.
I’d play Lejeune in holding mid and longstaff in front of him on sat..
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