Touch and go for Shelvey in comeback bid

JONJO Shelvey will face a late fitness test to determine whether he will be fit enough to face Watford tomorrow.

The 26-year-old has not started a Premier League game in more than six weeks due to a thigh problem, and he has made only one 20-minute appearance in December so far.

Ideally, manager Rafa Benitez would have liked to have given Shelvey longer to recover to ensure he does not have another recurrence of his thigh problem.

Yet Ki Sung-yueng’s enforced departure to a pre-Asian Cup South Korea training camp has reduced the midfield options that Benitez has at his disposal.

Benitez currently has just three central midfielders fit.

Mo Diame and Isaac Hayden were named in the United XI who lost 4-0 at Liverpool, while 21-year-old Academy graduate Sean Longstaff came off the bench to make his Premier League debut.

The Magpies lacked creativity against the Reds, and Benitez is keen to restore Shelvey to the side as soon as possible.

But, while Shelvey is understood to be pushing to return to the lineup, Benitez is reluctant to risk the midfielder unless he passes a late fitness test.

Even then, given that Shelvey has played just 20 minutes of football in almost two months since he was forced off with a thigh injury during the 1-0 home victory over Watford on November 3, the midfielder will not be fully match fit even if he does start tomorrow.

Given the scarcity of options available to Benitez in midfield, the Spaniard would ideally like to sign a midfielder next month and to allow Hayden to depart.

However, with United struggling to complete deals in the transfer market, and with Benitez’s need for an attacking midfielder, a winger and a striker even more pressing than his desire to strengthen in the Magpies’ engine room, it seems the Spaniard will have to make do with the options currently at his disposal until Ki returns from the Asian Cup.