Lewis Hall still isn’t fully fit for Newcastle United, Eddie Howe has confirmed.
In many ways, that makes Hall’s performance as Newcastle United beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Premier League all the more remarkable.
The left-back was brilliant for Newcastle as Eddie Howe’s side pulled off their biggest win of the season to date.
The scoreline flattered Pep Guardiola’s side, in truth. Indeed, Harvey Barnes could and probably should have scored more than the two he ultimately notched.
With Hall and Tino Livramento starting as full backs, Newcastle looked like a different team entirely.
They will now hope to build some momentum with both England internationals playing in such key positions.
To expect Hall to consistently play over the next few weeks, however, may be unwise.
Eddie Howe admits Lewis Hall cannot play 90 minutes for Newcastle United yet
Speaking after the game, Howe addressed fears Hall had suffered another injury during the win.
He was replaced by Sven Botman in the 77th minute but the Newcastle United manager indicated that was due to cramp.
Who was your Newcastle United MOTM against Manchester City?
Still, when speaking to BBC Radio Newcastle, Howe did admit that Hall isn’t in a position to regularly play 90 minutes just yet.
“I think it was more cramp”, he said.
“It wasn’t totally unexpected that Lewis would probably suffer that way, having missed the amount of football and just the change in intensity from England [U21], because he went away with England, compared to these games.
“They’re totally different. That’s why we’ve tried to build him up to full fitness.
Reminder: Paul Mitchell once thought that Newcastle United overspent on Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall.
“He’s still sort of some way short of being able to complete 90 but the minutes that he did play, I thought he was outstanding.
“I thought he was very, very good technically and I thought he gave us a composure and a calmness on the ball and, yeah, he showed all his best qualities.
“I thought he defended well as well, which you have to against Manchester City.”
Dan Burn on alert after Lewis Hall fitness update at Newcastle United
Hall is a very highly rated player, and the 21-year-old certainly proved why against Pep Guardiola’s side.
The former Chelsea youngster was brilliant on Saturday, as is evident from his statistics collected from FotMob.
However, Dan Burn needs to be on alert. It’s difficult to imagine many Toon supporters liking the idea of Burn returning at left-back, but it may be a necessary step.
| Newcastle United vs Manchester City statistics | Lewis Hall |
| Minutes played | 77 |
| Touches | 44 |
| Dribbles | 2/3 |
| Passes into final third | 5 |
| Tackles | 2 |
| Recoveries | 3 |
| Dribbled past | 0 |
Newcastle cannot risk Hall breaking down again, and they have a relentless fixture schedule to navigate.
With that in mind, it would hardly be a surprise to see Burn start there again reasonably soon.
Howe has been loyal to Burn and, in his defence, it’s only his recent performances against West Ham and Brentford that have let him down.
In an ideal world, Hall would start every game. That just doesn’t feel likely at this stage, however.
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