Newcastle United confirm 25-man Premier League squad - including surprise omission

Mark Gillespie has been left out of Newcastle United’s 25-man Premier League squad, while the injured Karl Darlow and Jonjo Shelvey are included.

With Darlow sidelined with an ankle ligament injury, and Loris Karius signed as back-up, Eddie Howe was expected to name a three-man goalkeeping band of Nick Pope, Karius and Gillespie.

However, Howe has opted to include Darlow and leave Gillespie out, which leaves Newcastle with just two fit senior goalkeepers.

That will come as a surprise to many supporters, however there are a couple of potential avenues to explore should Pope or Karius become injured.

Because goalkeeper is classed as a specialist position, the Magpies could indeed source an emergency loan deal, or even request that Gillespie is momentarily named in the squad.

Elliot Dickman’s under-23s also possess three promising young goalkeepers in summer signing Jude Smith, England under-18s international Max Thompson and Will Brown.

But above all else, Darlow’s inclusion in the squad could indicate that the 31-year-old’s injury is not as bad as initially feared, with previous suggestions being that he’d be out for a few months.

Emil Krafth is the second player to be left out with his ACL injury set to keep him sidelined until March 2023 at the earliest.

Players aged 21 or under, such as Elliot Anderson for example, are eligible to play without being named in the squad.

Newcastle United's 25-man squad in full:

GOALKEEPERS

Loris Karius, Nick Pope, Karl Darlow.

DEFENDERS

Kieran Trippier, Paul Dummett, Sven Botman, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Jamal Lewis, Matt Targett, Javier Manquillo, Dan Burn,

MIDFIELDERS

Joelinton, Jonjo Shelvey, Matt Ritchie, Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Elliot Anderson (u21s)

FORWARDS

Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin, Alexander Isak, Chris Wood, Ryan Fraser, Jacob Murphy, Miguel Almiron,