Journalist provides major WBA boost with Newcastle squad admission ahead of PL clash
Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards has claimed that Newcastle United ‘don’t have many players available’ for their Premier League game against West Brom.
The Baggies are set to take on the Magpies at St James’ Park on Saturday after Newcastle suffered from a coronavirus outbreak at their training ground last week.
Their game against Aston Villa, set for last weekend, was postponed and it seems that they may be missing several players when they take on the Baggies.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Edwards said, “Quite what sort of team they [Newcastle] are able to put out remains to be seen because they don’t have many players available.”
On Monday, the Telegraph reported that the number of COVID-19 cases at Newcastle was ‘well into double figures’ which suggests that some vital first-team players may be unavailable for Saturday’s game.
This provides a major boost for the Baggies as they look to respond with a positive result after losing 5-1 to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Albion boss Slaven Bilic is under serious pressure to deliver a positive result on Tyneside after his position was called into question again following his side’s heavy defeat to the Eagles.
With Newcastle set to be missing players for this weekend’s game, it will give Albion a much better chance of taking something away from St James’ Park.
A first away win of the season would buy Bilic some more time and, more importantly, get some vital points on the board as the Baggies look to climb away from the relegation zone.
With the club locked in a relegation fight, fans will be looking for any kind of positive news to take into upcoming games and this new update certainly provides some much needed good news.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies are interested in signing a League Two star, according to a report.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.