The Magpies lost the first of five games without their talisman.
Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden says his team-mates cannot use Jonjo Shelvey’s absence as an excuse for disappointing performances, The Chronicle reports.
Influential playmaker Shelvey was sentenced to a five game ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Wolves midfielder Romain Saiss back in October and The Magpies struggled badly when shorn of his creativity and excellent distribution in the Boxing Day defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
Hayden, alongside Jack Colback, struggled to replicate the six-time England international’s impact in the centre of the park against The Owls, leaving many Newcastle fans concerned about the prospect of four more games without Shelvey in their midfield.
However, the former Arsenal youngster says the club cannot simply fall back on the loss of a key player to justify a dip in performance levels.
“People are always going to say ‘if Jonjo was playing…’ but at the end of the day it’s a squad game,” Hayden told The Chronicle.
“Jonjo doesn’t win games by himself. There’s still another ten players out there that do the job and help the team.
“There’s no getting away from it, Jonjo is a good player and he’s been very important for us this season. But there’s no reason to use that as an excuse that because he’s not playing, we shouldn’t be able to win games or dominate games.”
Newcastle will be hoping that Hayden, Colback and Mo Diame can step up against Nottingham Forest on Friday after Brighton usurped them at the top of the Championship table.
And, on the back of the club’s worst team performance of the season against Wednesday, there will be added scrutiny piled onto the clash with Philippe Montanier’s side, who emerged victorious in the previous league meeting.
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