A few days ago, we worked out that Javier Manquillo and Chris Wood were the only two Newcastle players yet to be spotted back at the club’s Benton base for pre-season.
Since then, the Kiwi has returned after being granted additional leave, having played three times last month for New Zealand – including a World Cup qualifier in Qatar.
Eddie Howe explained that the likes of Sven Botman, Nick Pope and a few of our international stars (Bruno, Schar and Wood) sat out of yesterday’s 5-1 win over Gateshead as they hadn’t long rejoined the group, yet the Javier Manquillo mystery remained unanswered.
Elsewhere, Jamal Lewis and Federico Fernandez were the only other unexplained absentees, with neither feature in the squad which saw 21 Newcastle United players get some much needed game time. Given he had surgery on his groin just a few months ago, we’ll have to hope Lewis is OK in what’s been billed a huge pre-season for the former Norwich star.
Dwight Gayle, Jeff Hendrick and Ciaran Clark also missed out, although that was fully expected given all three have been training with the U21s ahead of potential moves to the Championship.
That said, it was interesting to see Matty Longstaff get the second half against the Heed, despite The Chronicle reporting earlier this week that he too had been asked to train with the reserves.
Mark Gillespie also failed to feature in yesterday’s game, although this is to be expected when Howe gave a half each to Dubravka and Darlow.
Here’s everyone who featured in both halves against Gateshead, along with the senior players who missed out entirely:
Newcastle United (first half): Martin Dúbravka, Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles, Kell Watts, Paul Dummett, Jonjo Shelvey, Elliot Anderson, Joe Willock, Matt Ritchie, Ryan Fraser, Callum Wilson
Newcastle United (second half): Karl Darlow, Emil Krafth, Kell Watts, Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Matty Longstaff, Joelinton, Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almirón, Allan Saint-Maximin, Jacob Murphy
Absence unexplained: Javier Manquillo, Jamal Lewis, Federico Fernandez
Absence explained: Sven Botman, Nick Pope, Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Mark Gillespie.
