Newcastle drew 2-2 away at Everton in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, despite a slightly patched-up team taking to the pitch at Goodison Park.
Injuries have badly affected the Magpies in recent weeks and given the players only had two days off in between the Chelsea victory and the midweek clash, Steve Bruce decided to rest some of his more important players.
Jonjo Shelvey, for example, started on the bench as Sean Longstaff and Matty Longstaff were partnered in midfield, with Saturday’s matchwinner Isaac Hayden forced to fulfil the right wing-back role once again.
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Unfortunately for the young pair, they didn’t exactly impress. Combined they managed just two tackles, so they were rightly criticised when Moise Kean was able to break through in the first half to score his first goal of the campaign.
Sean Longstaff in particular faced the brunt of criticism, which marks quite a turnaround in fans’ perspective of the player.
Many were keen for him to remain at the club over the summer amid transfer interest from Manchester United, but because he has not met fans’ standards recently it seems they want him to be removed from the team.
It is a harsh assessment considering he played well at times last year and boasts 81% pass accuracy, not to mention the fact he is still only 22 years old and is yet to get a regular starting run in the team this term.
He may be out of form but now is the time for Bruce to show faith in him and encourage the midfielder to display his talent, though that is unlikely now Nabil Bentaleb has signed on loan for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Steve Bruce has provided a transfer update that supporters will not want to miss hearing.
