EDDIE HOWE will not be instructing Joelinton to rein back his competitive instincts when he lines up against Liverpool on Saturday – even though the Brazilian is just one booking away from incurring an automatic two-match suspension.
Joelinton picked up his ninth yellow card of the season when he was penalised for a foul in the closing stages of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, and will be forced to sit out two matches if he incurs a tenth booking before the cut-off point of the 32nd game of the season.
Crucially, a suspension for bookings would only apply to Premier League matches, so Joelinton would still be available for the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United even if he was to receive a yellow card in Saturday’s tea-time meeting with Liverpool.
However, with his central-midfield resources already extremely stretched, Howe accepts he can ill afford to be without Joelinton for a couple of league games in the next few weeks.
Newcastle were already short of a central midfielder after Jonjo Shelvey left to join Nottingham Forest on deadline day last month without being replaced, and while Bruno Guimaraes will return from a suspension of his own after the weekend, injuries to Joe Willock, Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin have left the Magpies short of midfield options.
Nevertheless, with Joelinton’s aggressive closing down and energetic work rate key parts of his game, Howe will not be urging the remodelled midfielder to play more cautiously this weekend.
“Will I ask him to play differently? No. I have had this discussion many times with different players,” said Howe. “He is competitive, he is a fighter and he wants to win. That, at times, will spill over into yellow cards.
“He is close to a suspension. He wouldn’t be cup-tied (suspended) for the final even if he got another, but he would miss the next two league games if that did happen. Look, we’re light in midfield and it is an area of concern for us, so we’re desperately keen to keep him on the pitch without getting booked.”
Meanwhile, while there have been suggestions that Newcastle could wear their ‘Saudi Arabia-style’ white and green away kit for this month’s Carabao Cup final, it is understood the club have already made the decision to stick with their traditional black-and-white striped home kit for their first visit to Wembley in 24 years.
The Magpies wore their change kit of white shirts with a green trim, and green shorts and socks, for their away game at Old Trafford in the autumn, which finished 0-0, but they will be back in their home colours for their final showdown with Manchester United on February 26.
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