It never rains but it pours for Steve Bruce at Newcastle United, and if it wasn’t enough that the Magpies lost against York in their pre-season fixture, now Jonjo Shelvey has gone and injured himself whilst training alone and is likely to miss the start of the new campaign.
With crowds back at Premier League grounds for 2021/22, St. James’ Park is set to be full to capacity for the visit of West Ham United, a team that traditionally don’t do so well in the north east.
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After what was a largely arduous 2020/21, Bruce will be hoping that his Magpies side can hit the ground running, regardless of whether the prospective takeover of the club has gone through or not.
Their cause won’t have been helped by Shelvey’s running injury.
“Jonjo hurt himself before pre-season doing running on his own,” the manager was quoted as saying by Chronicle Live.
“He hurt his calf so he’ll not be around for a while just yet.”
Joelinton has given Bruce another headache too, after lasting just 18 minutes in the defeat against York.