Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe could be facing a huge call ahead of the clash with Nottingham Forest this weekend.
The Magpies are assessing Sven Botman’s fitness chances with the Dutchman coming back from a knee issue suffered in the Carabao Cup victory over Arsenal earlier this month. Should Botman be passed fit, Howe would then have to make a decision on whether to line up with a five-man defensive rearguard or bench either Dan Burn or Fabian Schar.
The 6ft 7in Blyth warrior was easily the better of the two centre-backs despite the heavy defeat against Man City at the weekend. Schar was caught out of position for two of the goals at the Etihad Stadium.
With a Carabao Cup final on the horizon for Newcastle and a defining run of matches coming up for a threadbare squad, Howe must be delicate about his selection options knowing that unhappiness in the squad is the last thing he needs right now.
The head coach said ahead of the Forest clash: “We’ve had games like this before this season and have always responded pretty well (after defeat). The inconsistency is a worry, and has sort of been there all season. Now, we’re off the back of winning a lot of games so I don’t want to overreact. We’ve won 12 of our last 15, but still, just looking at the last group of games, we’ve not been what we want to be.”
Howe wants his side to overcome the Man City defeat quickly but knows that there can’t be too many more slip up with Newcastle now sitting on eight defeats, one less than early season strugglers such as Everton and Crystal Palace.
Discussing the heavy loss at Man City, Howe said: “I think it happens a lot in the Premier League because the competition and the teams are so strong. You’re going to go on periods of winning games and losing games, it’s going to happen throughout the season.”
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