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'Light at the end of the tunnel' for Magpies, says Bruce
Newcastle United will be without “four or five” first team players when they take on Fulham at St. James’ Park on Saturday night – but head coach Steve Bruce believes they are approaching the “light at the end of the tunnel” after a difficult few weeks.
United face Scott Parker’s Fulham looking for a return to winning ways after Wednesday night’s 5-2 defeat at Leeds ended their run of back-to-back Premier League victories.
And Bruce says that while he is still without a handful of players following the Covid-19 outbreak a fortnight ago, he is hopeful that it won’t be too long before he has a fully fit squad to choose from as Newcastle enter the traditionally testing Christmas period.
“We don’t have any more new injury concerns. We’ve still got four or five of the squad missing through illness, so it’s been a difficult time in that respect,” he said.
“However, we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and we hope we can get them all back. Certainly we have got one or two though who are finding it a struggle at the moment.
"My concern now is for their wellbeing and their welfare, because they’ve been struggling for a while with it.”
United led at Elland Road in midweek through Jeff Hendrick’s opener but, after Ciaran Clark’s header got the visitors back on level terms at 2-2, Leeds’ late surge saw them pull away to take the points.
But Bruce hopes that his side’s form in front of goal can continue after some promising improvements in recent weeks – though he acknowledged that his charges must toughen up defensively if they’re to pick up points.
“We’ve scored twice again away from home – that’s two away games on the trot we’ve scored a couple of goals – and we’ve done that against West Brom at home,” he said. “At the forward end of the pitch, we’re starting to look a threat, which is important.
“What we have to do, of course, is get that balance right which I’ve talked about for a long time, and make sure we defend better as a team than we did in the last ten minutes the other night.”
Fulham, meanwhile, have drawn both of their last two games – including one against the champions Liverpool – and, with a win against Leicester also in the bag, they are just a point from safety.
Despite their poor start, Bruce believes Newcastle must be wary of former Magpie Parker’s side, who have shown signs that they could be getting to grips with the rigours of the top division following their promotion last term.
“Fair play to the manager and his coaching staff, because they are certainly better in the last six weeks than they were at the start, and they’ve adapted to Premier League life,” said Bruce.
“Certainly in the last few weeks anyway, they’ve looked a very, very decent outfit with some very good players. As I keep saying week-in and week-out in the Premier League, Fulham have got very, very good players, and have found a system over the last few weeks.
“Of course they will be buoyed when you get a big result like they did against Liverpool – that gives a little bit of confidence – and they’ve obviously kept another clean sheet midweek.
“It’s another tough game but that’s what the Premier League is. I’ve never seen the Premier League the way it is at the moment, where we’re all seeing different results, and what’s happened over the last three or four months certainly has affected even the Premier League.”
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