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Dummett to miss Everton trip, confirms Rafa
Newcastle United boss Rafa Benítez has confirmed he will again be without the services of defender Paul Dummett when his side face Everton on Wednesday night (7.45pm kick-off).
The full back has been missing with a hamstring problem sustained on international duty with Wales, and has sat out the Magpies’ last two games against Burnley and West Ham.
And though Benítez explained the 27-year-old was making good progress as he works towards a return from injury, he said the game at Goodison Park had come too soon for Dummett.
“Dummett is still not ready – getting better, but not ready. (Isaac) Hayden also is not available, like (Karl) Darlow – they had the problem the last week. The other players are more or less – (Florian) Lejeune is training, (Jamie) Sterry is training, so everybody is training but we have two or three players who are not available and we have to make a decision later on about a couple of them.
“We said before, we don’t have another specific left full back so it’s more important for us. Paul is a great professional, he’s always doing well, but if he’s not there we have to manage. We did well against Burnley but we have to manage these games and hopefully the players that will play in his position will do well.”
United’s three-game winning run came to an end at St. James’ Park against West Ham on Saturday, and they will now look to get back on track with victory at Goodison.
Benítez’s men will come up against a side who suffered a last-gasp defeat to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby at the weekend, and is wary of the threat posed by Marco Silva’s side as both teams seek a swift response.
“The good thing when you lose is that in three days or four days’ time you have another game,” he said. “That’s is sometimes quite positive. We will try to be sure that the approach of the game is right, and the players have to play in the same way as the past games.
“I think when we talk about them (Everton), they’ve changed a lot, and spent a lot of money in the past years. They have a very good team and a good manager.
“How will they react? I think they will be like they were doing before, playing well, and they will be consistent. You can get a bad game, but normally when you have good players, they can do well. It will be tough – it will be difficult.”