BRUCE WANTS WILSON SHARP FOR BLADES

STEVE BRUCE hopes his chief poacher will be back tomorrow night – after seeing missed chances cost Newcastle dear in the Cup.

Top-scorer Callum Wilson and Jonjo Shelvey were withdrawn from the squad on the morning of the match for “precautionary reasons”.

Bruce’s side face a key Premier League fixture away to rock-bottom Sheffield United next, seeking a much-needed victory.

And in Wilson’s absence two glaring opportunities fell to Andy Carroll (above) – but he fired one wide when unmarked five yards out, and saw Bernd Leno block the other (below).

With any reinforcements likely to be from loans, Bruce also admitted there were no concrete developments as yet. He said: “Hopefully, those players we left behind will be ready for Tuesday.

“With Callum and Jonjo, it was purely precautionary. We left it with the medical people and hopefully they will be ready.

“I hope fans watched this and appreciated the team gave everything, and it was just a case of not taking our chances.

“There is also nothing to report on in terms of any loans coming in just yet.

“We had an opportunity in the final few minutes and didn’t grasp it – and you rue those. Andy did fantastically well – if he had topped it off by scoring it would have been good. No one will be more disappointed than him.

“We have had a tough run of fixtures, but we dust ourselves down and go again.”