‘We missed’… Eddie Howe is delighted that 27-year-old Newcastle player is back ahead of Liverpool

Add as preferred source on Google

The Nottingham Forest game was a bit of a disaster for Newcastle United, but the one big positive was Joelinton’s return from injury.

The 27-year-old had missed the games against Chelsea and Luton Town after being forced off during the win over Fulham, but he was back on Boxing Day.

Joelinton was named on the Newcastle bench, and appeared in the second half when he replaced Sean Longstaff in the 71st minute. At that point, the Magpies were already 3-1 down and looked resigned to defeat.

While the performance was not good enough, Eddie Howe was at least pleased to have Joelinton back in the mix. He had looked decent just before his injury, scoring in the defeats to Tottenham and AC Milan.

Now the Brazilian is back, at a time when Newcastle desperately need someone to stand up and get the team out of this horrendous run of form.

Eddie Howe delighted to have Joelinton back from injury

Whether or not that can be Joelinton remains to be seen, but Howe has expressed his delight at having him back during his pre-match press conference.

“Whenever you lose a player of Joe’s quality you realise how important they are,” he said.

“When he came on, he showed what he brings. His ability in duels and to bring that fight in midfield is something we missed in the game so fingers crossed we can keep him fit.”

Joelinton feels likely to start against Liverpool

With Howe waxing lyrical about Joelinton, you have to imagine he is desperate to name him in his starting XI against Liverpool on Monday.

If he is fit enough to start then it would be a huge boost to see him back in the side, either in the middle of the park or out wide. While Joelinton’s preferred position is centre midfield, he does possess the ability to play on the wing. That could be an option that Howe pursues, especially with Miguel Almiron struggling so much right now.

But playing centrally is probably more likely, as his energy and pressing would be an incredibly valuable tool against a strong Liverpool side that are challenging for the Premier League title.

In contrast, Newcastle are not in a good place. Our form is poor, and Howe needs his big players, like Joelinton, to step up to get us out of this rut.