Toon welcome back wide boys
WAYNE Routledge and Jose Enrique return for Newcastle United tonight.
But boss Chris Hughton – whose side take on Scunthorpe United at St James's Park tonight – admits he was sorely tempted to throw them on against Middlesbrough.
Routledge, out since the home win over Coventry City, was an unused substitute at the Riverside Stadium.
And with Hughton's side struggling to take the game to their hosts, Routledge was an obvious choice to give Gordon Strachan's men something to think about.
Follow Gazette Newcastle United writer Miles Starforth on Twitter here
Hughton, however, kept the 25-year-old on the bench, opting to err on the side of caution, as he did with left-back Enrique, also named as a substitute.
The pair are almost certain to start against Scunthorpe, with Hughton – who saw Enrique make an abortive comeback in Newcastle's last game against Barnsley – confident they are fully fit after their respective spells on the sidelines.
"They've both been out for a period of time, and haven't done much training," Hughton told the Gazette.
"In Wayne's case, he'd had two days training (before Middlesbrough), and although he's a very fit lad, the most important thing is having players available for the 11 games we've got left.
"There was a temptation to put Wayne on – it's a normal emotion in a game.
"We had a period where Middlesbrough were playing very well, and at that stage, it looked like if a team was going to score, it was going to be them.
"But Wayne and Jose very much come into contention for Scunthorpe."
However, Alan Smith won't be available, the ankle problem which has kept the midfielder out of United's last three games to sideline him until Bristol City on Saturday.
"It's a bit of a blow – we were hoping he'd be back a little bit quicker," added Hughton.
"It's still quite tender, so he'll miss Wednesday. We're still assessing it re whether he'll be available for Bristol City, but he's very close."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for South Shields
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
