Newcastle United host Cardiff City at St James’ Park on Saturday.
The Chronicle reported on Thursday that Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez planned to wait a couple of days before deciding whether to include Dwight Gayle in his squad for the game against Cardiff City on Saturday. But, surely there is no decision to make?
Gayle has been sensational this season. His 11 league goals means that he is the only player in the Championship to reach double figures, and yet, Benitez would be foolish to select him for the visit of the Bluebirds.
The reason that Benitez is weighing up whether to select him or not is due to a hamstring injury that the former Crystal Palace man picked up in training, the Chronicle reports.
Newcastle United’s Dwight Gayle in action with Bristol City’s Mark Little
And despite his goalscoring record this term, it surely makes little sense for him to be involved against Neil Warnock’s side.
In his absence, the Magpies scored eight times in just two games in all competitions, with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring four of those goals.
Newcastle United’s Aleksandar Mitrovic scores their first goal
The Serbian has shown that he is more than capable of leading the line, so it would certainly not be a gamble to keep faith with Mitrovic rather than take a punt on Gayle’s fitness.
With the international break just around the corner, there seems to be little reason to select Gayle for the game if he is not fully fit. Newcastle already boost a three-point lead at the top so are almost definitely going to be topping the table going into the break, regardless of Saturday’s result.
And by leaving the striker out for this weekend, Benitez is virtually quashing any chance of Gayle not being ready to hit the ground running when clubs return to league action.
Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez
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