Newcastle United host Bromley in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday, and head coach Eddie Howe is expected to make changes to his starting XI.
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00:00So yeah, we are at a very frosty Whitley Park where we've just been speaking to Eddie Howe
00:05ahead of that FA Cup third round clash against Bromley on Sunday. One place to start the
00:12biggest tournament round around Newcastle at this moment, particularly in this quiet
00:17January transfer window in terms of incomings anyway. Here's Martin Dabravka's future. As
00:23we understand there's an offer on the table from Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabaab but
00:28Newcastle want him to stay given his performances in the team over the last month or so since
00:33coming in for Nick Pope after that Brentford game. Newcastle have won seven games out of
00:37seven and of those seven games Dabravka's kept five clean sheets. Been excellent in
00:41those games so it seems a quite forcible situation at Newcastle. Could actually lose him in this
00:47January transfer window. Dabravka is out of contract in the summer so you can understand
00:51from the player's perspective why he'd want to pursue a move to Saudi Arabia and increased
00:56salary and of course duration of the contract as well offers a little bit more stability
01:00but Newcastle, as Eddie Howe's just confirmed in there, are in talks to try and keep Dabravka
01:04out of the football club beyond this January transfer window. I think it's a no-brainer.
01:09I think it maybe might not be a contract extension. I don't think in talks necessarily means
01:15they're in talks regarding a contract extension. I just think it's in talks to try and keep
01:21him whether that's a bonus at the end of the season or whatever or an increased salary
01:25between now and the end of the season. We'll wait and see but what we can say is that Newcastle
01:29are doing everything they can to try and keep Dabravka out of this football club. I think
01:34the next week will be pivotal though. His future, I don't think he'll feature on Sunday
01:39against Bromley. I think it'll be wholesale changes. Potentially even 11 changes by how
01:43after a really testing period it's been for Newcastle United. As I say, seven wins in
01:48a row but three wins in a row on the road as well. Last week, three wins in eight days
01:53at Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal. It's some physical effort and you could see
01:56in the second half against Arsenal and some Newcastle players are really tiring. Alexander
02:00Isak is one of those players where he had to come off on the hour mark because of a
02:03hamstring complaint. The good news is that he looks like he's okay. Again, will definitely
02:08be one that's rested this weekend but should be back for the next Premier League game against
02:12Wolves on that Wednesday. Sven Bottmann's doing okay as well. Again, another one I expect
02:17to miss out this weekend but not for a injury, just purely because of the physical effort.
02:22He's put in the last couple of games 10 months out with an ACL injury and they put in those
02:28performances against two really tough teams and Tottenham and Arsenal is quite phenomenal
02:32really. Plenty of changes this weekend. As I say, probably 11 changes if I had to go
02:38for the team. I think I might be able to say he's Blackademos in goal. We haven't seen
02:43a lot of him. It was 45 minutes against Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup third round, I think there
02:50was at home. But we haven't seen anything of him. So it'll be interesting to see how
02:54he features this weekend if it is indeed to be him selected in goal. Of course, they've
02:58got John Ruddy as well. But yeah, I don't expect Martin de Brabant to feature and that's
03:03got nothing to do with his future. It's just for the amount of games he's played recently.
03:06Nick Pope is closing in on a return but I think reading the material and any of his
03:12comments would be a surprise if he was to feature in next week's games against Wolves
03:16on the Wednesday and then the visit of Bournemouth to St James' Park on the Saturday. But yeah,
03:21that's a goalkeeping situation. Go for the team, probably Kieran Trippie, I would say.
03:26Fabian Schaer after he was suspended for the last two games will probably come back in
03:30to partner Lloyd Kelly alongside at centre-half, which we haven't seen a lot of Lloyd Kelly
03:37since he signed in the summer and that's because of the form of Dan Byrne. Dan Byrne's been
03:41absolutely outstanding and Lloyd Kelly hasn't been able to nail down his place. Had opportunities
03:45at centre-half and left-back, of course, Lewis Hall at left-back has been incredible. So,
03:50it's been a tough one for Lloyd Kelly but yeah, a chance for him to impress this weekend,
03:56hopefully more like his Chelsea Cup performance in that game against West Ham where he really
04:01did struggle to impress. So, yeah, that's two centre-halves, Fabian Schaer and Lloyd
04:07Kelly. Left-back, I expect Mac Torgat to come in, which I'm hoping will be his first start
04:11in, I think, 14 months. Made a rare appearance against Aston Villa as a substitute and that
04:16was his first appearance over 12 months after that Hamsing injury at Manchester United but
04:22of course, after that Hamsing injury from Manchester United, he had several injury problems.
04:26It was an Achilles injury soon after he returned from that Hamsing injury and then there was
04:30a little niggle at the start of the season and yeah, a bad episode of X-Mat which I imagine
04:36was very painful. So, a rare start for him. And then, yeah, the midfield three, I think
04:42Joe Willock might be included in that. So, maybe not 11 changes but 10 changes because
04:48obviously Joe Willock started the Cup game against Arsenal midweek but I think you could
04:52say for a player that needs minutes and needs game time because the levels that Joe Willock
05:01reached during the season at Newcastle for the Champions League spots, he was an absolute
05:08standout but hasn't really reached those heights since. Of course, lots of different issues.
05:16The Achilles issue being the main one which disrupted last season where he came back,
05:21picked up an Achilles injury, came back, still felt the Achilles injury. This season he's
05:25been available but hasn't played probably as much as he would have liked but I think
05:29seeing a player like that, he needs game time and I think probably it's an opportunity
05:32to give him that against Bromley. Another two midfielders, Lewis Maley, I think should
05:40see him. It would be his first start of the season, the first one, since March time. Of
05:46course, he had a back injury and then he had that, what injury was it? Yeah, he had another
05:54injury, broke a metatarsal of course, sorry, and then he's returned but because of the
05:59amount of options Newcastle have got in midfield, hasn't really had the game time, made a substitute
06:03appearance against Ipswich recently but again, hasn't started a game. So, a good opportunity
06:08for him alongside what I'd expect would be Sean Longstaff who has fallen out of the team
06:13in recent weeks because of that phenomenal midfield. Three midfielders there with I would
06:23say a lot of senior experience. Lewis Maley possibly not played big games for Newcastle
06:27last season so that is still a strong midfielder and should be one that can dominate the game
06:32against Bromley and then the front three which I think will be Harvey Barnes on the left,
06:39Will Asula in the middle and on the right-hand side, Miguel Almiron. So, yeah, plenty of
06:47experience on those flanks with Harvey Barnes, a player who statistically has been very good
06:52for Newcastle this season. Up until one point when Newcastle's top goalscorer scored some
06:57vital goals, that one at Wolverhampton, was a standout win early on in the season. So,
07:04he's probably been a bit unfortunate not playing more games but, of course, you've got a player
07:09like Anthony Gordon on that left-hand side who is now starting at football and has really
07:13stepped up his form in recent weeks. So, that's a two-wide player as Miguel Almiron continues
07:19to be linked with a move away from Newcastle. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
07:23I wouldn't totally rule out him leaving before he had the chance to win due to interests
07:27from MLS club Charlotte and interests from other European clubs as well but Eddie Howard
07:31has always had a respected player as long as he's here and that will be, again, an opportunity
07:36for him to start a game, I think, his last start. If I remember rightly, it was actually
07:40against, or his only start this season was against Chelsea in the Premier League against
07:45Chelsea when they got beat at Stamford Bridge. And then Willa Sula, a player that I would
07:52expect to see a bit more of. I understand why Newcastle haven't seen more of Willa Sula.
07:58Of course, when Callum Wilson got injured again, you see Alexander Izak and then the
08:02back-up striker behind that is Willa Sula but, in truth, Newcastle fans haven't seen
08:08much of Willa Sula at all, even in games over the busy December period. He wasn't really
08:13coming off the bench, and if he was, it was for a few minutes at the very least. So, a
08:18real opportunity for him to impress. Eddie Howard spoke really highly of Willa Sula there,
08:22said that he's been developing well behind the scenes, looked really sharp in 11v11 matches
08:27and if he is to be involved, which I suspect he will, as I say at the start, then he expects
08:32him to impress. So, crucial changes against Bromley but should be enough to beat them.
08:39Andy Woodman coming back to St James' Park after spending so many years as the goalkeeping
08:44coach under Alan Pardew. A special mention for a striker at Bromley called Levi Amanshi,
08:50former product of the Wall's End Boys Club. Played for Blythe Spartans and Dalton in the
08:55area before moving down south a few years ago now. Played for the likes of Braintree,
09:00Maidenhead, made his way back up to Bromley and is now playing in the Football League.
09:05On the Bromley side, there's a couple of emotional returns, if you want to call that
09:09certainly, Andy Woodman and then a real special day for Levi Amanshi. So, that's been the
09:15roundup from Eddie Howard's press conference. Next time you'll see me, I'll be speaking
09:20about that Bromley result where hopefully, he cast an eye and have booked their place
09:23in the forefront.