There was not much to shout about for Newcastle United on Saturday.
Thrashed at Arsenal in the Premier League, their porous defence continues to concern manager Eddie Howe.
Indeed, even the dropping of Dan Burn didn’t help matters for Newcastle, with Tino Livramento unable to deal with Bukayo Saka as the Gunners rolled in their third goal of the evening.
Still, there was at least one positive and that was the return of Joe Willock.
Blighted by injuries all season, the £25m star made a 17-minute cameo at the Emirates Stadium against his former club and even managed to score, giving the travelling supporters at least something to cheer about.
It has been a difficult campaign for the 24-year-old, who had been limited to only six appearances up until that point. Howe, as you might imagine, was delighted to see him back in action.
As was one of his teammates.
Joe Willock: Elliot Anderson responds to Newcastle injury boost
Taking to Instagram after the game, Willock captioned a collage of himself in action: “Bittersweet. So happy to be out there again thank you for your support.”
Elliot Anderson, who is reportedly due back from injury soon himself, responded with “He’s back” accompanied with two love heart eyes emojis.
Newcastle injury news: Boosts finally emerging
While it did not ultimately matter on Saturday night, Howe at least had options for the game.
Alexander Isak started after his recent lay-off, with all of Willock, Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes on the bench. Having attacking names to call on as replacements has been a rare luxury for Howe this season.
With Anderson and potentially Nick Pope returning from injury soon, things are looking up on the fitness front at last.
Whether that has any meaningful impact during what remains of this campaign remains to be seen of course but it’s nice to have options.
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