Joe Willock produced his best performance of the season last week in Newcastle United’s 4-1 win over Fulham.
Had it not been for Miguel Almiron, the 23-year-old would surely have been named man of the match. He provided two assists, and was a constant attacking threat against Marco Silva’s side.
It was a welcome return to form for Willock, who had struggled in the Magpies’ previous game – the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.
But the former Arsenal man looked back to his best last week, and feels certain to start against Brentford.
However, he is suddenly under severe pressure to maintain this level of performance. And that’s because a returning Jonjo Shelvey is closing in on being fully fit.
Eddie Howe confirms that Jonjo Shelvey is nearly fit
Ahead of the game against Brentford, Howe provided an update on some of his players who have been suffering with injury.
One of those is Shelvey, and he is ready to return to full training. Howe said: “He’s ahead of schedule and he’s hopefully going to be involved with us today in training for the first time.”
It is excellent to hear that the 30-year-old is almost ready to return to action. He has been a huge miss in the Newcastle midfield, especially in games against stubborn defences – like the aforementioned draw with Bournemouth.
Howe almost has a full strength midfield to pick from, and that means Willock needs to keep performing to retain his place in the side.
Pressure on Willock
Shelvey will be very keen to get back in the starting XI, and Howe will no doubt have ambitions himself of playing the former Swansea man.
That means someone is going to have to miss out. It isn’t going to be Bruno Guimaraes, and it probably isn’t going to be Joelinton either.
That leaves Willock, Shelvey and Sean Longstaff competing for one position. At the minute it belongs to Willock, but the return of Shelvey poses a huge threat.
What Shelvey can do that Willock can’t is play the ‘number six’ role. That’s where he played last season, sitting in the middle of the central trio and dictating play. Meanwhile, Bruno was able to play higher up the pitch in a more advanced role.
The Brazilian has said that is his preferred position, while it has been claimed that Howe wants to move him back there. To do that he needs someone to take his place in the ‘six’. And that man is likely to be Shelvey.
Therefore, Willock needs to maintain this level of performance. If he can continue to play so well that Newcastle aren’t missing Bruno’s presence higher up the pitch then he should continue in the side.
If he can’t, then it won’t be long until Shelvey replaces Willock and Bruno moves into the ‘number eight’ position.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
