Graeme Jones brought two Newcastle United players in from the cold this afternoon.
Jones kicked off his brief spell as Newcastle interim boss with a 1-1 draw away to Crystal Palace.
The 51-year-old surprised some fans before the game by including Emil Krafth and Ryan Fraser in his first XI.
These are two players who Steve Bruce – sacked by the Magpies on Wednesday – hadn’t been using much this season.
In total, the pair had started just one Premier League game between them before today.
But Jones has revealed that both had trained brilliantly in the days leading up to the clash, earning them a rare chance to impess.
He told Sky Sports: “Emil Krafth and from Ryan Fraser, they have trained really well, they have showed me that they want to be in the team, they want to be part of things. Both international footballers, both good Premier League experience.”
Did they justify their inclusion?
Well, you could argue that no, they didn’t.
Krafth set up Callum Wilson for the goal that ultimately helped United salvage a point, though it was completely accidental on the centre-back’s part.
And Fraser honestly didn’t set Selhurst Park alight either but, having said that, Allan Saint-Maximin also had a quiet game.
And if the French winger struggles, given his capacity to electrify games this season, then someone like Fraser was never going to have much of a positive impact, it has to be said.
Newcastle are home to Chelsea next week in Jones’s final game before being relieved of his duties, as far as interim head coach goes.
But both will do well to get another game on that occasion.
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