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Steve Bruce has risked offending his thinner-skinned players by damning them with faint praise. The Newcastle manager was at pains to praise his squad’s resilience before Wednesday’s game at Leeds but had no compunction about emphasising their limitations.
“They might not be breathtaking on the eye but they grasp what Newcastle is,” he said, referring to the sizeable first-team core who played integral roles in Rafael Benítez’s 2017 Championship winning side and have been responsible for the class of 2020-21’s rise to mid-table in the Premier League. “I think their biggest quality is that resilience.
“Yes, we’d love them to be a bit more entertaining at times; yes, maybe they could pick a pass at certain times but you can’t question their resilience or what they’ve given to Newcastle over a period of three or four years.
“At certain times they might lack a little bit of quality but you can’t knock them; they’re a good group to work with. They know that, to be successful, you must have the ability to roll your sleeves up. If you do that, the supporters will forgive you.”
Newcastle have been ravaged by a Covid outbreak in the past month but three sets of tests in the past six days have come back negative and, bar a handful of players and two staff members still sidelined by the virus, everyone has returned to the training ground. The Premier League funds weekly testing at clubs but some have opted to fund a second round of testing and Newcastle seem set to follow suit.
“The big thing is fatigue, the way it leaves you feeling tired,” said Bruce, who will welcome back Federico Fernández at centre-half after coronavirus. “The players are fit, healthy and young, and, for the vast majority, it washes over them. But not all.
“Isaac Hayden [now restored to health] was in bed for a week and he’s arguably our fittest player. And, unfortunately, for two of players in particular, it has not washed over them. I think it would be wrong for me to go into too much detail but they’re not going to be ready for at least a couple of weeks.
“This virus has no boundaries. I was really shocked at some of the things that happened [when it hit Newcastle]. From affecting nobody to the way it skittled through everybody was quite scary. The decision to shut down the training ground was crucial, otherwise God knows what it would have done. The way it was going it would have ripped through everybody.”
Bruce has never met Marcelo Bielsa in person and is looking forward to his first duel with the Leeds manager. “Maybe I can share his bucket?,” he said. “That would be a sight for sore eyes!”
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