Steve Bruce has all but confirmed that Matty Longstaff will start at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, saying “How could I leave him out?”.
The 58-year-old has also revealed that just THREE senior players will be missing at Chelsea. Florian Lejeune (knee) and Matt Ritchie (ankle) are ‘close’ but unable to make it, while Isaac Hayden is suspended once again following his red card at Leicester.
Firstly, here’s what Bruce had to say when asked about man of the moment Matty Longstaff – dropping a big hint that he’ll start tomorrow:
“How can I leave him out?”
“I don’t think I’ve witnessed as good a debut – not just the goal, but the whole way he played.
“He’s like a kid in a sweet shop.
“He’s brought a refreshing humility to us all again.
“It was a wonderful debut from the kid. The big thing now is to help him, protect him and nurture him along the way because he’s got a big, big future ahead of him.”
Bruce also mentioned that there were concerns over Fabian Schar and DeAndre Yedlin given both featured for Switzerland and the USA this week, however it seems we have a clean bill of health – aside from Lejeune and Ritchie.
Here’s what he’s had to say about the pair, while also discussing the fitness of Andy Carroll:
“At the minute we only have Matt Ritchie and big Flo (Lejeune) injured.
“We’re nearing towards a full squad. (Those two) are there or thereabouts.”
“Andy’s doing great, touch wood.
“He came on at Leicester and played another half an hour against Man United and there’s been no reaction to that.
“He’s trained all week again. So with Andy, it’s a case of so far, so good.”
Bruce also confirmed that he’ll be forced to leave ‘4 or 5’ on Tyneside, with there only being so much room in the travelling squad now our injury table is finally clearing up.
