We are just hours away from the return of Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe’s side ended the first sprint of the Premier League season with three consecutive defeats and the Newcastle manager now must turn things around against Brentford.
While Howe will likely be backed for the long-term at St James’ Park, another defeat would leave the team in pretty dire shape ahead of the Champions League trip to AC Milan on Tuesday.
In an effort to improve fortunes, things are expected to change.
Indeed, Sean Longstaff is reportedly likely to start for the first time this season and the midfielder posted a hint on Thursday.
Sean Longstaff’s pre-Brentford message
The 25-year-old took to Twitter to post a message.
Captioning a photo of himself training: “Back to it this weekend” hours after the news leaked suggesting that he’d be starting, Longstaff could be set for a key role.
Yet to start this season after an injury picked up during the summer, the midfield has not been at its best thus far, so there’s a relative amount of pressure on the academy graduate.
Longstaff can stake a claim for a regular starting berth
The signing of Sandro Tonali has given Howe a headache.
Though there is little reason to panic right away and the Italian has put in good performances, the issues look more to do with the system.
To that end, this could be a good chance for Longstaff.
Hailed as “integral” for his performances last season, the academy graduate has a real opportunity to put himself in Howe’s thoughts ahead of the Milan game. Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton might be flash names but things aren’t currently going to plan.
Longstaff, who has raised his game under Howe’s watch, could really underline his starting credentials with a big performance.
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