D-Day for Steve Bruce as injury dilemma could impact Newcastle United's 25-man Premier League squad

And while the majority of the players are guaranteed spots, Bruce still has a dilemma or two when it comes to whittling the squad down to 25.

Here’s the decisions the manager must make...

The straight swap

Newcastle United have five players in and around the fringes of the squad who could all be named in squad.

Only two of those are likely, though.

DeAndre Yedlin is the most likely to be brought back into the fold, while Christian Atsu was told his future lay elsewhere earlier in the summer. Unfortunately for United they could not find buyers, or takers, for either player in the summer window, domestic or international, and find both still on the books as the final year of their Newcastle deals run down.

Rolando Aarons will not be in the 25, having been totally cut out by Bruce, while Henri Saivet and Achraf Lazaar, even more so, are real outsiders. Saivet has been praised for his attitude by Bruce this summer but would prove a left-field pick in the final slot while Lazaar’s appearance for the under-23s this week raised eyebrows but is highly unlikely to have swayed the manager, who was watching on from the stands.

Will injuries have an impact?

With the window between today and the first week of January being so short, any long-term injuries must be taken into account when naming the squad.

Dwight Gayle is probably the one who falls into this category the most, especially with United unlikely to cut Martin Dubravka out the first-team picture, in case he makes a speedier recovery than imagined.

Gayle is not expected to return to action until December, according to estimates, which does leave Bruce with a decision to make – does he think one of his fringe men can make more of an impact than his injured striker?

Newcastle United’s likely 25-man Premier League squad

Martin Dubravka, Karl Darlow, Mark Gillespie, Javier Manquillo, Emil Krafth, DeAndre Yedlin, Paul Dummett, Jamal Lewis, Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez, Fabian Schar, Ciaran Clark, Matt Ritchie, Miguel Almiron, Allan Saint-Maximin, Jacob Murphy, Ryan Fraser, Isaac Hayden, Sean Longstaff, Jonjo Shelvey, Jeff Hendrick, Joelinton, Dwight Gayle, Andy Carroll, Callum Wilson.

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