Steve Bruce is rumoured to make TWO changes this weekend – bringing Martin Dubravka and Federico Fernandez back into the side.
Earlier this week, The Telegraph claimed Bruce was ready to give Dubravka his long awaited first start of the season.
His only start this season came in our 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Since the defeat, Darlow has kept his place at Premier League level, but it seems the Slovakian will return on Saturday night.
The Chronicle also believe Fernandez is under consideration to make a welcome return to the leaky Newcastle defence.
Fernandez has missed the last 8 games after picking up an injury in the horrendous defeat to Sheffield United a month ago.
Bruce has to make a choice who Fernandez will come back in for, with Lascelles and Clark starting the last game. Lascelles has had his critics over the past few seasons, but Bruce is unlikely to drop him as the club captain.
That said, it would be harsh on Clark to be dropped after another steady display at Man Utd, with many believing he was the better performer out of the two. Unless a change of formation is on the cards – reverting back to a 5 man defence? Let’s hope not!
Some big decisions to make for Bruce and his coaching staff as we need to pick up points in the next 4 games – but one thing we can all agree on is he needs to play his best team; and Dubravka and Fernandez are two of our most reliable performers.
