Jonjo Shelvey was back in the Newcastle United squad on Sunday, but did not play in the 0-0 draw with Manchester United.
It was a surprise to see the Toon midfielder back on the bench. It had been suggested before the game that the trip to Old Trafford would come too early.
But Shelvey was available as a substitute for Newcastle, and watched on as his teammates got a deserved point. And it could have been more based on our first half performance.
The second half was a different story, with the Magpies doing a lot of defending. Eddie Howe’s side were clearly tired, and had to battle to hold on to a deserved point.
But for all the tired legs, particularly in midfield, the manager did not turn to Shelvey. And he has explained why.
Howe on Shelvey not playing vs Man United
After the game, Howe spoke to the Chronicle. He explained why Shelvey did not feature off of the bench.
“Jonjo’s a huge personality, huge player,” he said.
“I’d love to have been able to bring him on today but it was probably difficult to do that.
“He’s at the very early stages of being fit and available so I didn’t want to risk him at all. It’s a very cautious approach with him at the moment.
“So we might not see him have an effect in the team short-term but certainly with more training and more building of his fitness levels, he’s got a bit part to play in the coming weeks.”
Shelvey must bide his time
While it’s great to have Shelvey back in the squad, it sounds like he will have to bide his time to return to action.
The way the game was panning out at Old Trafford, it would have been a risk to bring him on. And as Howe says, we can’t afford to risk him getting reinjured.
Howe needs to be very careful with the 30-year-old. He is a fantastic player when fit, and has been a real miss this season, especially given how good he looked during the summer.
Hopefully it doesn’t take Shelvey long to get back to full fitness and we can soon see him in Premier League action again.
Based on Howe’s comments, it seems incredibly likely that he will be on the bench again on Wednesday night against Everton. And unless we are in a commanding position going into the final stages of the game, we still might have to wait to see him play again.
But given how good we know Shelvey can be, it will hopefully be worth the wait.
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