Break fails to heal United’s wounds

Feb 20 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

WHILE most of the squad have been refreshed by a two-week break from playing, Newcastle United will still take on a side who embarrassed them last month with problems at either end of the field.

Fourteen days without a game may not prove enough for goalkeeper Shay Given and top scorer Obafemi Martins to play in Saturday’s late afternoon kick-off. That the game is against Manchester United, the team who destroyed them 6-0 at Old Trafford last month, will only add to manager Kevin Keegan’s concern. Despite the optimistic words from the ever-positive Keegan, it seems increasingly likely he will have to do without the pair for the televised St James’s Park game. He can at least take solace from the fact that in Steve Harper and Michael Owen he has two high-quality alternatives.

Martins missed Newcastle’s previous game, a 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa, after returning from the African Cup of Nations with an ankle injury. Keegan appears unlikely to be able to select the Nigerian for the first time at the weekend.

“Oba is looking doubtful for Saturday but I wouldn’t rule him out just yet,” said the 57-year-old.

Given injured his groin at Villa Park and was replaced by Harper. At the time, it was thought unlikely to keep him out of the Red Devils’ visit, despite a history of problems in that area since rupturing his bowel in an innocuous-looking but horrific injury at West Ham United in September 2006.

The Republic of Ireland international has been given another 48 hours to prove his fitness but it could be telling that Keegan is talking up his potential replacement, Harper.

“Shay is saying all the right things and thinks he has a chance, but Friday will be the day when we decide that,” Keegan told the club’s official website. “He still has a chance and we’ll know more later in the week. If Shay’s not fit, Harps is ready. We’re in safe hands either way. As clubs go we have two of the best keepers in the Premier League if you take them as a pair.”

Harper has started eight games this term, the last being November’s 1-1 draw at Sunderland. But whereas in previous years the former Seaham Red Star keeper has had to rely on Given’s misfortune for a game, such was Harper’s early-season form that his team-mate was forced to watch from the bench in four Premier League games.

With number three Fraser Forster in outstanding form for the reserves on Monday night, Keegan will hardly be

scraping the barrel if Given is not passed fit. But after the champions so comprehensively beat the shambolic Magpies in their first game after Sam Allardyce’s dismissal, Keegan will want all possible options available.

The remainder of the squad are in good shape after their early exit from the FA Cup created a free weekend.

“We have to try to get the balance right in the break and I believe it will be a good thing,” reflected Keegan. “By the time we come to Man United we would have had everyone together for the first time. Geremi is now back (from Africa) and I’ve now met all of the lads and got to know everyone that little bit better. The lads have been very focused and we’ve got through some good work.

“Because the (transfer) deadline has passed, we have got what we have until the end of the season and we have to try and make the best of that. We need a win. That’s all we lack at the moment. The confidence will come back, the football will get better and the players will start to trust each other that little bit more.”