Newcastle United winger Kenedy has suffered a slight injury problem ahead of the club’s FA Cup clash against Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night, according to reliable journalist Chris Waugh.
The Chronicle reporter claims on his personal Twitter account that the Brazilian flyer, who was absent against Chelsea over the weekend due to the rules against loan players featuring against their parent club, has picked up a “niggle” and that is why he is out against Rovers for the replay.
Roberts can play out wide or as a No 10, so interesting to see whether he or Ritchie plays just off Joselu. Kenedy has a slight niggle, which is why he isn't in the squad, but #nufc have pace in attack with Roberts & Murphy
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) January 15, 2019
The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes of the first leg at St James’ Park, which finished 1-1 thanks to Matt Ritchie’s second half equaliser from the penalty spot, and it is Jacob Murphy who takes his place on the left wing.
Opinion
Kenedy has been nowhere near his best for Newcastle this season but there is no doubt that manager Rafael Benitez would rather have him available than sitting on the sidelines. He is the sort of talent who has the ability to pull strings from out wide and make something happen from nothing and while he has not shown that same cutting edge recently, the talent is there. An FA Cup run is by no means a priority for the Magpies and it could well have been that Kenedy would have been rested for Tuesday night’s clash anyway but with a game against fellow relegation strugglers Cardiff City over the weekend Benitez could do without the possibility of one of his senior stars missing out. Will the Brazilian recover in time? The fact Waugh says it is a niggle rather than anything serious sounds promising, but these niggles can take a frustratingly long time to go away and so Newcastle are not out of the woods just yet.