Chris Waugh now shares what people ‘inside the club’ were saying about Joe Willock recently

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Newcastle United looked a lot better against Wolves on Saturday, and it was largely down to one man.

Eddie Howe was able to name Joe Willock in his Newcastle United starting XI for the first time in the Premier League since November.

The 24-year-old is finally back after an Achilles injury, and has already made a huge impression since his return.

He was excellent during a goalscoring cameo against Arsenal, and he has since started consecutive games for the Magpies.

That is despite the Athletic’s Chris Waugh suggesting that it would be a few weeks before Willock was deemed fit enough to start for Newcastle. Now the journalist has explained why he made such a declaration, despite it proving to be incorrect.

What Newcastle had planned to do with Joe Willock

Waugh has been speaking about Willock on the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, and was asked about why he previously said the midfielder would not start for a few weeks after returning from injury.

“You referenced how I said he [Willock] probably wasn’t going to start for a while,” he said.

“That had been the information very much from people inside the club. Whether that was deflection tactics…

“He came off early-ish because Newcastle are still getting him back to full fitness. He has played three times in a week now but you can see the difference he makes in midfield.”

Newcastle must be careful with Willock

Willock is building his minutes up. He played for about 20 minutes against Arsenal on his return, then followed that up with back-to-back starts.

But both games have seen Willock substituted early. He came off after about an hour against Blackburn, then it was 70 minutes on Saturday versus Wolves.

Newcastle are clearly being careful with Willock, as they look to get him back up to full speed. They obviously feel that he already is capable of starting, and his return has had the desired effect.

He was outstanding against Wolves, and you have to imagine he will start again on Monday when we head to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.

Joe Willock is very much back, and is already proving he is fit enough to start. That has either came as a shock to the Toon medical team, or club insiders have been pulling the wool over reporters’ eyes. Either way, the main thing is that he is fit and firing as he aims to end a frustrating season on a high.