Ipswich Town star left heartbroken by Newcastle United snub - 10 players face nervous wait
Kieran McKenna has admitted Leif Davis is “disappointed” after being robbed of his Newcastle United dream.
A boyhood Toon fan, the Wallsend Boys Club graduate has made no secret of his desire to play at St James’ Park. Davis openly revealed his wish to play for Newcastle one day following Ipswich Town’s promotion last year.
However, a clumsy red card for mistiming a lunge on Bukayo Saka will prevent him from fulfilling a lifelong ambition. To make matters worse, Arsenal went on to thrash Ipswich 4-0 - putting them on the brink of relegation.
The Tractor Boys must win every game and hope West Ham United do not pick up another point to have any chance of survival. Speaking before the trip to Tyneside, Ipswich boss McKenna challenged Davis and his players to make games at St James Park a regular occurrence.
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“He (Davis) is, but it is what it is,” he said when asked whether the left-back is gutted. “He’s still a young player, young in his career, so his determination will be, like the rest of the boys, to make sure that this isn’t the last time that Ipswich are going to St James’ in a league game. That will be the focus.
“But he’s disappointed to miss three games, he wants to help the team and we could do with him, so that’s going to be a challenge.”
McKenna also highlights Ipswich’s injury crisis heading into the Tyneside clash. The Blues could be without 10 first-team players for their trip to the North East.
“We’re in a challenging spot in terms of availability, to be honest,” he added. “I’m not going to go through every single one because I’d probably be naming the fit players that we have left to Newcastle, which would be naming our team.
“We’re in a really difficult spot in terms of availability and we’re working really hard to get a team and a squad together that can go there and be as competitive as we can be. We’re still going to be waiting on a few right until tomorrow and we’ll try and make the right decisions and hopefully, we’ll have enough to be competitive.”
Jamie Carragher agreed with Chris Kavanagh’s on-field decision
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher called Davis “absolutely ridiculous” in the Sky Sports studio following the red card. He said: “We’ve looked at it a few times because you’re thinking ‘Is it in between a yellow and a red, almost like an orange?
“But the more you look at it, it’s a really good decision. What he’s doing (there) is absolutely ridiculous. There’s no way he can get the ball.”
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