Newcastle United goalkeeper decision made v Everton after Ewan Jaouen injury
Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle was quizzed on whether he could rotate his goalkeeper for the Carabao Cup tie against Everton.
Lukas Hornicek is set to remain in goal for Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup last-16 tie away to Everton on Thursday night.
Ewen Jaouen joined the Magpies from Ligue 2 side Stade de Reims for £18million in the summer, knowing he would be second-choice goalkeeper but with the opportunity to play in cup matches.
The 20-year-old Frenchman started the first-round win over West Bromwich Albion at St James’ Park, but that has been his only appearance to date due to injury. He missed the 1-0 win at Millwall in the previous round with a knee injury and won’t be available for the trip to Everton as he recovers from hamstring surgery.
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Lukas Hornicek set to remain in goal v Everton - no recall for Nick Pope
Hornicek started at Millwall in Jaouen’s absence and is set to continue at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with head coach Matthias Jaissle playing down suggestions he could bring in Nick Pope from the cold.
“I think we want to win that match, independent of who's playing,” Jaissle said when asked about rotating his goalkeepers. “We still have two more days to make the final decision, but you can be sure that we want to go with a really strong XI into that game.”
Rather than speak about Pope specifically, Jaissle spoke more generally after making five changes to his starting XI for the 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
“It's always a balance, right? To rotate, but also, on the other hand, to find still stabilisation,” Jaissle added.
“Now we rotated, if you want to say so, in the centre-back and in general the full-back positions quite a lot. Now it's also time to bring more stabilisation and we're looking throughout the journey of more matches to hopefully also have consecutive wins.
“Therefore, we need to find the right balance, and you can expect not too many changes.”
Matthias Jaissle has already praised Nick Pope’s professionalism
Pope had been Newcastle’s number one goalkeeper for the past four seasons, but the summer arrivals of Hornicek and Jaouen have seen the 34-year-old drop to third choice.
The 10-capped England international was close to joining Ipswich Town at the beginning of the summer, but a move fell through following Kieran McKenna’s departure as manager. The Magpies tried to find a new club for Pope, but nothing materialised.
Had Pope left, Newcastle would otherwise have lacked a senior back-up to Hornicek due to Jaouen’s long-term injury. Aidan Harris, who would likely have stepped up instead, is currently on loan at National League North side Hebburn Town.
Pope’s professionalism and leadership behind the scenes has been regularly praised by Jaissle.
"I can only think and say positive words about Nick and I did that already in my first press conferences when you were asking,” the German said. “He knows about his role and he reacted really professionally on that.
"So on the pitch, in the training, when we need him, in the friendly, like we played, but also off the pitch. Of course, due to his experience, he's also a leader and he refills all the attributes that we need to see from him and we're all happy that he's with us."