Ralph Hasenhuttl aims dig at Newcastle United following Covid-19 postponement

Tomorrow night’s fixture was called off after Eddie Howe’s squad was depleted by Covid-19 cases and injuries.

Howe, without an unspecified number of players due to positive Covid-19 cases, lost Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin to injuries during Monday night’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United – and Sunday’s game against Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium is also in doubt.

Hassenhuttl – who was hit by injuries last season – was asked about the prospect of that fixture being postponed after his team’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur last night.

The Premier League say teams must play games if they have 13 senior players and one goalkeeper.

“There’s talk about cancelling games because teams have a lot of injuries, but there were times last season where we had nine out injured – and we played academy players,” said Southampton’s manager. “That was maybe the toughest half of a season here. Injuries are not Covid cases. Injuries are also here for us.

"They (Newcastle) had seven or eight players on the bench during their last game, and now they have two more injuries. They should still have thirteen players plus one (goalkeeper). This is the message from the Premier League.”

Hassenhuttl has his own injury concerns, but the club wants the game to go ahead.

"We’ll prepare for the game, like always, with the players we have,” said Hasenhuttl. “We're not moaning about it. We're taking it as it is. This is the toughest league in the world – we know this."

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