Rafa Benitez has been speaking to the media today in his weekly pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Bournemouth – confirming that Mikel Merino is OUT once again with a back injury and giving a brutal assessment on Jack Colback’s situation at the club.
Here are some of the key points to take from Rafa’s pre-match presser today:
- Mikel Merino is OUT of tomorrow’s game and will be missing for 2-3 weeks after sustaining a back injury in last month’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
- Rafa confirms Isaac Hayden is fit for tomorrow after recovering from a knock, stating Diame, Saivet and Mbemba are other options he has available to partner Jonjo Shelvey – suggesting that even the Congolese centre-back is ahead of Jack Colback in the midfield pecking order!
- Benitez states Jack Colback ‘knows the situation’ and will continue to train with the Academy, saying he can ‘only concentrate on the players he has’. No way back for Colback at NUFC then!
- Paul Dummett is ‘back in training’ according to Benitez, but the left-back is ‘not ready’ to return to first team action yet.
- Rafa confirms the reaction from the players to the Burnley defeat has been ‘very positive’, stating the have been been ‘training even harder!’ ahead of tomorrow’s game – good to hear!
- Benitez reaffirms that no one should make a judgement on his side until January, saying it’ll be a fair time to judge as we’ll have played all the teams in the league by then.
- Rafa wary of Bournemouth, stating they are a ‘good team’ who ‘play well’ and know the Premier League well now.
? You can now watch @rafabenitezweb's full media briefing ahead of tomorrow's game for free on NUFC TV.
? https://t.co/bjhfHJ8Y26 #NUFC pic.twitter.com/QY1X3moyyJ
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 3, 2017
Rafa: "Mikel Merino will be put for at least a couple of weeks, we still need to wait to see. Dummett is training but not ready yet." #nufc
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) November 3, 2017
Rafa: "Without Merino, we can play Diame, Shelvey, Hayden & Saivet. We can also play Mbemba there. Jack knows the situation" #nufc
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) November 3, 2017
No way back for Jack Colback at Newcastle says Rafa Benitez – even despite midfield injuries. "Mbemba can play there if need be", he says.
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) November 3, 2017
Rafa on Colback: "He is training with the U23s at the Academy. He knows the situation & I only concentrate on players I actually have" #NUFC pic.twitter.com/8mLLxuiCdS
— Newcastle Fans TV (@NewcastleFansTV) November 3, 2017
Isaac Hayden had "little problems" during the build-up to the Burnley match. "But for this game, he is fine." #NUFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) November 3, 2017
Rafa: "The reaction from the players to Burnley has been very positive; they've been training even harder!" #NUFC
— Matthew Raisbeck (@raisbeck10) November 3, 2017
