Two players walking disciplinary tightrope give Eddie Howe big selection headache ahead of PSV clash in Champions League
Eddie Howe has to pick a team that can be competitive against PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday night, with a win almost guaranteed to see Newcastle United qualify for the playoffs to enter the knockout stages.
The Newcastle boss is already having to be careful with his team selection, given the number of injuries already in the squad, with Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar, Jacob Murphy, Dan Burn and Will Osula all ruled out of tomorrow's game.
Beyond those that are already out of contention, there are many that are still on iffy ground, having just returned from injury and those who haven't been given a whole lot of time to recover between games.
Newcastle have played seven times in 23 days and still have four more games to go in January, so fatigue is a major worry.
Joelinton and Malick Thiaw are a booking away from suspension in the Champions League
To add an extra layer of complication, though, Malick Thiaw and Joelinton are both one booking away from a Champions League suspension, with three yellow cards being the trigger for a one-game ban.
Dan Burn is also on two cautions in the competition, but he's not going to be in contention to feature at St James' Park on Wednesday night.
If Joelinton picks up a booking and finds himself suspended for PSG, we can probably deal with that, bringing in Jacob Ramsey to replace him, but if we lose Malick Thiaw, we've got big problems.
A suspension for Malick Thiaw is the last thing we need
The defence is where Newcastle have been hit hardest with injuries, so adding a suspension to that would leave Eddie Howe with huge problems.
Hopefully, Dan Burn will be back for PSG as cover, but we still think he's going to be way off the pace for a while, even when he does return.
Fingers crossed Malick Thiaw and Joelinton are on their best behaviour tomorrow night. We don't need more complications.
