Newcastle took no chances with Shelvey and Almirón injuries | OneFootball

Newcastle are hopeful the decision not to risk Jonjo Shelvey and Miguel Almirón in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley will prove to be worth it in the long run.

Speaking after the loss at Turf Moor, Newcastle manager Steve Bruce suggested the pair’s omission was precautionary rather than due to any serious issues.

“Muscle injuries: we’ve just got to be careful,” Bruce said.

“We run the risk if they’ve got a slight strain or whatever. We can’t have them pulling up and missing six to eight weeks.

“Lets see where they are in the week and we’ll go from there.”

With winger Allan Saint-Maximin ruled out for a month with a hamstring injury, the Magpies’ squad was stretched pretty thin.

And Bruce used the situation to highligh the lack of resources at his disposal.

“Almiron and Shelvey and Saint-Maximin affected it [the result], of course.

“I never really want to make excuses but of course that’s why I want a bigger squad. I’ve used the full squad today and they weren’t quite good enough, but I thought we didn’t do much wrong.”

Next up for the Toon is a home clash with Crystal Palace next Saturday.