You’ll still have to hit the road, Jack
RAFAEL BENITEZ says there is no way back for Jack Colback at Newcastle. The 28-year-old midfielder has been exiled from the first team after being told in the summer he had no future at St James’ Park. A transfer window move failed to materialise and, despite Benitez having Mikel Merino potentially missing for several weeks with a lower back problem, Colback will not be brought back. Benitez said: “He’s training in the academy with the Under-23s.
“He knows what the situation is and we will continue working with the players we have available now.
“He knew from the beginning we have four or five midfielders and I didn’t want to have six. We couldn’t manage to move any more players out at the end of the transfer window or find teams for them, and you can’t train as well with too many players around in the same position. I didn’t want that.”
Newcastle are aiming to bounce back from a dour away defeat by Burnley, but Benitez insists his side are not too negative.
He said: “We are not defensive, we are well organised. That is different. We have good balance. If you say we have to be more attractive, maybe we’d be conceding goals all the time.”
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has called on his side to rediscover their scoring touch ahead of what he described as a seasondefining trip.
The Cherries have scored just six times in their opening 10 league games and are above only Crystal Palace in the table. “These games will define our season,” said Howe. “We’ve had a tough start but then every start in the Premier League is a tough one, but we go into these games looking to pick up points.
“We have scored six goals, that’s not enough and we’ve not been potent enough in the final third. That is not down to one individual, but as a team.
“We’ve always been a team who have attacked with everyone and we need to get our fluidity back in that sense.”