Newcastle United are dealing with a very depleted squad at the moment.
After Sandro Tonali’s ban and a mounting injury list, Eddie Howe was not able to name a recognised forward on the bench as Newcastle drew with Wolves on Saturday evening.
With huge games to come in the Champions League, Carabao Cup and Premier League, it is hardly an ideal situation.
Such are the levels of expectation on the club these days, Howe must remain competitive in all of those tournaments.
Quite how he will do that with such a limited squad right now remains to be seen.
Indeed, Howe addressed the situation and explained why he only made one substitution at Molineux.
Newcastle vs Wolves: Eddie Howe explains why he made just one substitution
Speaking to Sky Sports, Howe confirmed that he did not want to tinker with positions too much, such are the lack of available bodies right now.
“It was difficult for us today, we had limited attacking options so what I want to do when I make a sub is try to make the team better and play players in their best positions so if I was to make changes today, it would have probably been playing players out of position and I’m reluctant to do that with the game so evenly poised,” he said.
Newcastle injuries: Time to play the kids
While it would be nice to go to Manchester United in the cup on Wednesday and play a full strength side, its time for Howe to rotate.
The Carabao Cup was an important avenue last season but it is surely the least pressing of the three competitions on the agenda. It’s not a particularly nice thought to describe a tournament supporters would love to win like that, but one must be realistic.
The supporting cast at Newcastle did at least prove against Manchester City in the last round that they can compete, so its not as if playing them would completely write off the result.
Time to manage the minutes.
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