Newcastle United head manager Rafa Benitez has ruled out Dwight Gayle from the next match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Gayle suffered a recurrence of a previous hamstring injury against Aston Villa.
Gayle had only returned to the starting lineup against Aston Villa but had to be taken off in the first half only. Aleksandar Mitrovic replaced the injured striker against Bristol City. Newcastle United have a tough fixture ahead and it seems the Spaniard gaffer has to rely on Mitrovic for scoring goals.
Gayle’s injury is not new and he had struggled earlier regarding his hamstring. He has appeared just four times in this year and might have to sit on the sidelines for a couple of games. He has scored 20 goals in 24 league appearances after arriving in a £10m deal from Crystal Palace in the summer.
Gayle’s absence could hurt Benitez who also has Daryl Murphy in his ranks. Mitrovic was awful in the last 2-2 draw against Bristol City and was really lacklustre in front of the goal. Benitez replaced him with Ayoze Perez but couldn’t change his fortune as the Toons wasted two valuable points.
Benitez said, “[He is] still improving, but not ready. I said before that he has to make sure he is ready mentally
“He is improving, but he is not ready for this game.”
Gayle’s absence means Mitrovic is guaranteed a place in the starting lineup. Brighton capitalised on Newcastle’s last result as they defeated Reading 3-0 to take the top place in the Championship table. The Magpies are scheduled to visit Huddersfield Town and Reading in back to back away matches and if they manage to gain maximum points from those games, they will have an upper hand in comparison to their rivals.
Gayle had suffered four separate injury layoffs in the last four months and any further setback would put a question mark on his reliability for the rest of the season.
