Newcastle United midfielder’s absence drops big selection hint for Chelsea

Newcastle United youngster Lewis Miley could make his competitive debut for the club at Chelsea this weekend.
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With Newcastle having already secured a Champions League place with a game to spare and several injury issues to contend with, head coach Eddie Howe is set to make some changes for the trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off).

Joe Willock’s hamstring injury and Joelinton’s withdrawal in the warm-up against Leicester City as well as Nick Pope’s hand surgery means we could see a slightly different looking United side this weekend. Elliot Anderson is expected to keep his place and make only his third Premier League start for the club while 17-year-old Miley is set for at least a place on the bench once again.

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The 17-year-old midfielder has trained regularly with the first-team this season and was an unused substitute in the matches against Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City as well as the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth earlier in the season.

Miley withdrew from the England Under-17s squad to be part of Newcastle’s matchday squad and has subsequently not been included in the Newcastle Under-21s Hong Kong Citi Soccer Sevens team.

Newcastle Under-21s travelled to Hong Kong this week as they look to win the Hong Kong Citi Soccer Sevens tournament for a third successive time. 10 Under-21s players have travelled to Asia to take part in the competition, including Miley’s older brother Jamie.

James Huntley, Remi Savage, Max Thompson, Alex Murphy, Jordan Hackett, Amadou Diallo, Matt Bondswell, Nathan Carlyon, Michael Ndiweni and Jamie Miley make up the seven-a-side squad. They will face representatives from Hong Kong Football Club, Leicester City Under-21s and HKFC Captain’s Select in the group stage.

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Aston Villa, Rangers, Fulham, Brighton and Queens Park Rangers have also sent sides over to Hong Kong for the tournament.

Miley is regarded as one of the top talents coming through Newcastle’s academy at the moment so his omission from the Hong Kong Sevens squad strongly suggests his involvement against Chelsea this weekend.

And Howe has already suggested that he would have no qualms about playing the teenager in the Premier League.

“Lewy’s a real talent,” Howe said. “Now he’s been training with the team, I wouldn’t necessarily say consistently all season, but [for] the majority, I’d say he’s been with us.

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“The biggest compliment I can give him is that he hasn’t looked out of place. He’s looked like part of the group.

“For someone so young, technically, to survive within the group is no mean feat. Some of the drills we do are very difficult. He’s survived in those drills, and that’s a big thing.

“So I would have no question marks about putting him in. Whether he’s ready or not, that will come down to how he performs.”

After starting the season with Newcastle’s Under-18s side, Miley ended up finishing the season strongly with Newcastle Under-21s. In eight starts, the 17-year-old contributed two goals and five assists from midfield.

He also featured for Newcastle’s first-team in the mid-season friendlies against Al-Hilal and Rayo Vallecano.