OPINION
Newcastle United fans would have had their heads in their hands on Monday evening as they saw their side throw away two precious points to a last minute equaliser against Wolves and Rafael Benitez would have a tough job getting his players’ spirits up.
It was a heart wrenching draw for the Magpies who had nullified the home side’s potent attack for much of the 90 minutes, although it was by no means smooth sailing for those wearing the light blue of Newcastle’s third kit.
In fact Benitez’s men often contributed to their own struggles, the likes of Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles and Florian Lejeune all making errors which could have been seriously costly, Wolves failing to punish the visitors to Molineux.
Their shaky performance would not have gone unnoticed by the manager but there is another man who would have surely been tearing his hair out on the bench – Federico Fernandez.
The Spaniard has been benched since suffering an injury and understandably so when you consider the confident displays put in by the trio in recent weeks but Monday night’s game showed that all three of those starting at the back are susceptible to mistakes.
Fernandez meanwhile has been incredibly consistent and without a notable error to his name this season, so to watch on while his teammates faltered on occasion at Molineux will have left him a little frustrated.
Whether Benitez is willing to axe any of those in the starting XI remains to be seen but he will no doubt have his fellow countryman in his ear trying to earn his place in the line up and considering his record, there is definitely an argument to see him return in just under a fortnight’s time.