The Newcastle United player looked woefully short of form in the recent victory against Huddersfield Town.
The games are coming thick and fast for Newcastle United right now, with a trip to Reading following hot on the heels of another away match against Huddersfield Town.
Newcastle may have overcome the Tykes in impressive fashion, winning 3-1 courtesy of goals from Matt Ritchie, Daryl Murphy and Dwight Gayle, but their manager Rafa Benitez got away with one when he selected Vurnon Anita at right-back ahead of DeAndre Yedlin.
It could be argued that the Magpies won despite of, rather than because of, Anita’s presence on Saturday, with the 27-year-old looking out of sorts and overrun time and again.
That was no surprise considering he had missed six league games with an ankle injury before being an unused substitute for the two matches prior to his return, but it was still a somewhat bizarre decision from Benitez to throw him into such an important match against a side pushing hard for automatic promotion themselves.
It worked on that occasion, but Anita was scarily out of his depth at the weekend and Benitez should revert to Yedlin at the back for Newcastle’s upcoming match or risk seeing his gamble backfire.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
