Howe set to ‘count bodies’ ahead of the trip to Everton
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe will take a roll call ahead of tomorrow’s scheduled trip to Everton after admitting he is “dangerously close” to not having enough players to fulfil the fixture.
The Magpies went into Monday’s Premier League clashagainstManchesterUnited with their squad ravaged by positive Covid-19 tests and injuries and emerged further depleted. Karl Darlow, Ciaran Clark, Matt Ritchie and the suspended Isaac Hayden were absentfromamatchdaysquad which featured only eight substitutes, while Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin both limped off.
Howe admitted Wilson’s injury in particular was a concern, and while midfielder Hayden is available after serving his ban, full-back Javier Manquillo picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against the Red Devils and will sit out at Goodison Park.
The Newcastle boss declined to give details of the extent of the coronavirus outbreak, but asked how the picture looked for Thursday, when he will need a minimum of13outfieldplayersandagoalkeeper available, he said: “We will try and get the game on.
“It’s a simple process of counting the bodies, but we just need to count the cost. We need to count the bodies after this game.”
Everton, managed by former Magpies boss Rafael Benitez, have not played since December16asaresultoftheir own selection problems.
Newcastle will be buoyed by their performance in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United whichmighthaveyieldedthree points for just the second time this season. They led through Saint-Maximin’s early strike, but they were pegged back by Edinson Cavani’s equaliser.