Rafa Benitez is sweating over the availability of Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey ahead of his side taking on Watford on Saturday, according to the Chronicle.
The regional newspaper claim that the 26-year-old midfielder is pushing to make his return from injury against the Hornets but that Benitez is reluctant to risk Shelvey unless he passes a fitness test.
The Chronicle report that Shelvey is set to take a late fitness test ahead of Saturday’s match even if in an ideal world Benitez would like to give the midfielder more time to recover from his recent thigh problem.
OPINION
It seems that according to the Chronicle Benitez is worried about having enough midfield options to call upon with Ki Sung-yueng set to depart surely in the Asian Cup, so he is no doubt eager to get Shelvey back in the fold as soon as he physically can. Shelvey has been a noticeable absentee in recent weeks as he has been only able to feature for 20 minutes during the hectic December schedule so far. The 26-year-old who has been a regular feature of the Magpies’ team for multiple seasons now, is a player who when at his best is capable of getting Benitez’s side a result. This is because the midfielder is a sublime passer of the ball and seems able to spot a move just as it’s developing. The only issue for Benitez and Shelvey is that the player hasn’t been at his best so far in his 2018/19 campaign. Ahead of his injury problems getting the better of him, Shelvey didn’t look capable of running the show in the nine appearances he was able to make.