Having to play Alex Murphy against Fulham wasn’t ideal for Newcastle United but Eddie Howe was impressed.
Murphy has barely featured for the Newcastle United first-team but may be needed going forward.
Indeed, Lewis Hall is among Newcastle’s injured players, as is back-up left-back Dan Burn.
Who was your MOTM against Fulham? For what it’s worth, I thought Jacob Ramsey was very good 😍😍
Tino Livramento would be another option there but, unfortunately for Howe, the England international was forced off against the Cottagers with a knee complaint.
It all leaves Howe desperately short on options at full-back. Hall and Livramento transform Newcastle’s style of play, so potentially missing them both is a major blow.
Murphy is one of very few options Howe has at his disposal and the Newcastle United manager was impressed.
Eddie Howe praises Alex Murphy after Newcastle United beat Fulham
The 21-year-old only played for around 14 minutes, but it was an important juncture in the game.
Newcastle were pushing for a winner but did risk leaving themselves exposed defensively. Had they lost the game after Sunday’s dreadful defeat at Sunderland, the season would have veered into a crisis.
So then, it was promising that Murphy played reasonably well. It’s difficult to draw too many definitive conclusions, but the early signs were at least promising.
Of Murphy, Howe told Sky Sports: “I thought Alex Murphy coming on did well too so I’m delighted for him and delighted for all the players.”
How impressed were you by Alex Murphy against Fulham?
He's going to need to step up now 👀
How Alex Murphy played for Newcastle United against Fulham
As the graphic above explains, the Republic of Ireland international found the mark with all eight of his passes against the Cottagers (100%).
Murphy also made two clearances, while amassing a total of 16 touches.
It’s hard to suggest he’s now ready for Premier League competition but it was a decent enough performance in difficult circumstances.
Howe thinks Murphy is improving and, frankly, he’s going to need to.
There are simply no other options at full-back and Newcastle do not have much more margin for error.
Obviously, needing to rely on Murphy would be an emergency at Newcastle, but at least he didn’t put a foot wrong on Wednesday night.
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