Lee Clark has told Chronicle Live that Dwight Gayle ‘will be frustrated’ at his situation with Newcastle United, having rarely played so far this term despite Chris Wood rarely scoring.
No Toon player has amassed fewer Premier League minutes this season than Gayle, among those to feature at some stage. The 32-year-old has earned just 27 minutes of action over five appearances, despite Steve Bruce and Eddie Howe listing him in 29 matchday squads.
Gayle has only failed to make the matchday team on two occasions, with one in November and one in January. Yet he has so far only featured as a 91st-minute substitute at Chelsea since the start of 2022. Howe has left him on the bench in all 10 other potential matches.
The forward’s lack of game time even comes despite Callum Wilson not featuring since he suffered a calf injury in December. His absence forced Howe to sign Wood in January, and triggered a £25m release clause in the New Zealand international’s contract with Burnley.
Yet despite the lofty fee paid, Wood hit just his second Newcastle goal to beat Wolves last week. He had failed to find the net in 10 of the 30-year-old’s previous 11 Premier League outings since leaving Turf Moor. Even though he has played all but 20 of 1,080 minutes.
Lee Clark claims Dwight Gayle ‘will be frustrated’ at his situation at Newcastle
Clark feels the lack of chances Howe has offered Gayle, despite Wilson’s injury and Wood’s lack of goals, will annoy the Newcastle striker. The former Toon star also expects Gayle will feel he can do the job that Wood has provided outside of scoring if he was given a chance.
“It’s been a tough period for Dwight, and certainly while the team has been in the Premier League, he hasn’t had too many opportunities,” Clark said. “Whenever he drops down to the Championship, he’s done what Aleksandar Mitrovic has done now.
“In the Championship, he scores them for fun. He will try to counteract that argument by saying he doesn’t get a good run of [top-flight] games. And that’s true… We have spoken about Chris Wood not getting a lot of goals, but he brings different attributes to the team.
“He starts the press from the front, being the focal point – although Dwight may well think he can do that job, too. I know he will be frustrated. He won’t want the record of being an unused sub 23 times, put it that way.”
Gayle enjoyed his most appearances in a single Premier League term at Newcastle during the 2017/18 campaign. He featured 35 times, before spending the next season on loan at West Brom in the Championship. The forward struck 24 goals for the Baggies that season.
The London-born attacker was also prolific in the second-tier for the Toon in 2016/17 to fire the club to promotion. Gayle offered 23 goals in 32 games following a £10m move to Tyneside from Crystal Palace. Yet he has 26 career top-flight goals over 142 appearances.
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