Fresh Newcastle United injury scare ahead of Southampton as Eddie Howe provides update
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admits his side looked a little rusty as they grinded out a 1-0 win over Stade Brestois to lift the Sela Cup.
The Magpies made a quick start to the game and got their noses in front in the 15th minute when Harvey Barnes opened the scoring.
However, United struggled to build on their early momentum with Martin Dubravka and then Odysseas Vlachodimos in the second-half the busier of the two goalkeepers.
Howe made 11 changes from Friday’s 4-0 win against Girona, which included a lot of players that haven’t been exposed to many minutes in pre-season.
“Different game, tough test today,” Howe told NewcastleWorld. “It looked like a team that hadn’t had a lot of minutes and it hadn’t when you add up who has played what during pre-season it’s been very fragmented for the players involved, whether that be due to injury or international schedules. We looked rusty.
“But saying that, I thought it was a bright start, it was a really good opening to the game and we scored a really good goal but just couldn’t sustain that intensity and dropped off. Second-half it was probably about not conceding and we managed to do that.”
Martin Dubravka and Kieran Trippier made their first appearances of the summer, while Fabian Schar, Lloyd Kelly, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes featured for only the second time.
Schar was replaced seven minutes before the end after taking a knock to the ankle but Howe hopes the Swiss defender will be fine for next week’s Premier League opener at home to Southampton.
Howe said: “I haven’t spoken with Fabby yet, I hope it’s not too bad. It seemed like an ankle twist. He obviously felt a little discomfort but we hope he’ll be OK.”