Mark Gillespie could make a shock appearance for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United after Nick Pope’s sending off against Liverpool.
The Magpies were hoping to claim a huge win against Liverpool to get their top four push back on track following a few disappointing results.
This proved to be a difficult night for Newcastle though as Darwin Nunez slammed home the opener for Liverpool.
Cody Gakpo added number two for Liverpool before the big moment of the game arrived.
Nick Pope rushed off his line to try and prevent Mohamed Salah on a rapid counter-attack – but got it all wrong.
Pope ended up grabbing the ball outside of his area and was given a straight red card, though Newcastle at least kept the score down to 2-0.
Who is Mark Gillespie? Boyhood Newcastle United fan could make dream cup final appearance
Pope’s red card means he misses the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United next week – and that has caused a huge problem.
Backup stopper Martin Dubravka is cup-tied having already played for – ironically – Manchester United in this season’s Carabao Cup.
Karl Darlow is out on loan at Hull City so Newcastle face a goalkeeping nightmare.
Eddie Howe has to pick between Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie to start against Manchester United at Wembley, which is a tricky one.
Karius is the bigger name but his career has nosedived since 2018.
Gillespie is lesser-known and the potential of him starting for Newcastle is real ‘Roy of the Rovers’ stuff.
Gillespie was born in Newcastle, grew up supporting the Magpies and started his career with the club before being let go at 16.
The shot-stopper probably thought he would never end up back at Newcastle as he moved on to Carlisle United, Blyth Spartans, Walsall and Motherwell.
Yet having impressed in Scotland, Gillespie was brought back to Newcastle in 2020, joining on a free transfer to offer some homegrown cover.
Gillespie has only ever played three times for Newcastle, with all three games coming in the Carabao Cup.
Gillespie now finds himself in a straight shootout against Karius this week.
There is a very real chance that Gillespie starts a cup final in goal for Newcastle some 15 years since they released him – something nobody could have predicted even a week ago, never mind in 2008.
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