Newcastle United call-up 17-year-old ahead of Nottingham Forest clash as defensive concern highlighted
Newcastle United are preparing to host Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park on Sunday (2pm kick-off).
With Forest sitting third in the table and six points clear of Newcastle in seventh, the match is shaping up to be a crucial clash in the battle for Champions League qualification. Defeat for The Magpies would significantly dent their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, leaving them nine points behind Forest with 12 games left to play.
But a win would see them close the gap to just three points with a superior goal difference. Newcastle won the reverse fixture 3-1 at the City Ground back in November but Forest won by the same scoreline on their previous visit to St James’ Park on Boxing Day 2023.
Newcastle head into the match having lost three of their last four Premier League matches and each of their last two at St James’ Park. A 4-0 defeat at Manchester City last weekend was a blow for The Magpies with Eddie Howe and captain Bruno Guimaraes critical of the side’s performance.
Now they’ve returned to training this week with the plan of producing a response against Forest on Sunday.
Newcastle United call-up 17-year-old to training once again
Newcastle’s training ground images ahead of the Forest match showed 17-year-old right-back Leo Shahar in training alongside the first team once again. Shahar is yet to feature in a competitive match for the first-team but is no stranger to training alongside the first team after progressing through the ranks at academy level since his arrival from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2023.
Shahar was fast-tracked through the Under-18s side and into the Under-21s at Newcastle’s academy and now finds himself on the fringes of the first team at just 17. Last year, Shahar signed his first professional contract at Newcastle.
His involvement in training comes as the side face some availability issues in defence. Jamaal Lascelles has been sidelined with an ACL injury since last March while Sven Botman has missed the last two matches with a knee problem.
It is hoped Botman will be back available against Forest this weekend but he was not one of the defenders pictured in training on Wednesday. Dan Burn, who picked up a groin problem in the 3-2 win at Birmingham City earlier this month, has also had minimal training time despite being passed fit to play at City last weekend.
Leo Shahar’s Newcastle United ambitions
After signing his first professional contract last year, Shahar spoke to the club about his first team ambitions and following in the footsteps of young full-backs like Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento - both of whom have gone on to represent England during their time on Tyneside.
“Seeing the likes of [Kieran] Trippier and Livramento playing well for the first team makes me want to thrive and try to get into a similar position that they are in,” he told the club website.
“The fans love those two and I want to push on to try and get into that spot. I’m going to work as hard as I can every day on the training pitch to get to that spot.”