OPINION
Issac Hayden appeared to have a bright future at Newcastle United at the start of the season however the re-emergence of Mohamed Diame has caused him to struggle to feature.
The 22-year-old defensive midfielder has only played 55 minutes of league action across the Magpies’ last five league games, and didn’t even make the squad for his side’s last game against Southampton.
This is a sharp contrast to the start of the Magpies’ Premier League campaign this season, as Rafa Benitez regularly called upon Hayden to run his midfield.
Hayden has made 23 appearances in the league during this campaign and appeared in all of the Magpies’ opening 12 league games.
Unfortunately the midfielder’s performances were woeful and he was a liability to his side.
Due to this Hayden is only used sparingly as a substitute, if he gets on the pitch at all, and this scenario causes him to be unable to prove his ability in the limited minutes he receives.
However, the Magpies are set to travel to Spain to face Royal Antwerp on Sunday in order to play a game consisting of three 45 minute halves.
The Chronicle report that Benitez wants to ensure he can give the vast majority of his 25-man squad vital minutes and the newspaper name Hayden in particular, as a player who could impress enough to play an important part in the second half of the season.
Hayden has been handed a lifeline to his Magpies’ career this season as he will get a significant amount of minutes on Sunday in order to show that he should be regularly playing for his side.
The only issue to his lifeline is that with a resurgent Diame arguably putting in the best performances he ever has in a Magpies shirt, Hayden needs to play above and beyond his ability to force himself into Benitez’s plans.