'He's fine': Eddie Howe allays injury fears after taking £35m Newcastle United man out of game early against Bradford
Eddie Howe started what he hopes to be his future centre-back pairing together last night as Newcastle United eased past Bradford City in the Carabao Cup.
Although Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman started together against Bournemouth at the weekend, that was as part of a back three which also included Dan Burn.
Last night, the partnership was tested out fully as part of a regular back four, and without getting too carried away, especially given that it was against League One opposition, the partnership looks like it could be a very, very good one for years to come.
Malick Thiaw is showing why Eddie Howe was so keen to sign him after a year-long pursuit, while Sven Botman seems to be getting back to his best after a series of bad knee injuries following his £35 million switch from Lille.
Sven Botman is fit, and his withdrawal had nothing to do with injuries
In the 89th minute last night, Sven Botman was withdrawn and replaced with young talent Alex Murphy, which sparked fears that maybe Botman still wasn't fully fit.
Thankfully, Eddie Howe put those fears to rest when speaking to BBC Radio Newcastle last night when asked if Botman had taken a. knock.
“Yeah, he is fine. That was just to give Alex [Murphy] some minutes.”
Alex Murphy is on the cusp of becoming a first-team regular
Alex Murphy seems to have been knocking on the door for a while to be involved in Howe's first team. He's got some big names ahead of him, but he keeps appearing on the bench for the first team and is often involved in pre-season.
It's clear that Eddie Howe has big plans for the Irishman, and even though he only got a few minutes last night, it is good to see that he's being given the chance to prove what he can do.
Murphy was one of the first group of youngsters to come in when Dan Ashworth began the programme of scouting young players to turn into first-team stars, which has continued since he left.
