RAFAEL BENITEZ has delivered an upbeat assessment of Dwight Gayle’s latest injury setback, but admitted the striker’s lengthy record of hamstring problems is preying on his mind.
Gayle hobbled off in the first half of Monday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa with what looked like a recurrence of the hamstring injury that had sidelined him for more than a month. It was initially feared he could face another four weeks in the treatment room, but a series of scans have revealed no new damage.
Instead, the striker appears to be suffering from a crisis of confidence in the state of his hamstrings, having suffered four separate injury lay-offs in the last 18 months.
He will not be involved in today’s home game with Bristol City, with Aleksandar Mitrovic set to take his place, and while he could feature in the squad for Tuesday’s promotion battle at Brighton, he will not be restored to the starting line-up until he has complete confidence in his physical wellbeing.
“We don’t have a timescale for Dwight,” said Benitez. “He is doing really well and we are quite pleased with the situation now, but we cannot say how long he will be out for.
“He is not training, but all the tests we have done are quite positive, it is a question of his confidence more than anything. We have been watching the video (of the Aston Villa game) and we couldn’t see any situation where he was feeling real pain or problems.
“He was not comfortable, but all the tests we did before he played against Norwich, he was fine. The tests we have done after are okay. It is just a question of confidence, he has to feel that he is fine. Now, we just have to treat him and make sure he is comfortable.”
Gayle’s previous record of hamstring problems means he follows his own training programme to ensure he is not subjected to unnecessary muscular strain, and he has spent this week receiving treatment away from the rest of Newcastle’s first-team group.
The 26-year-old became a father eight days ago, with his partner, Stefanie Lianne, giving birth to a daughter, Indie, and the disruption to his training routine may have played a part in Monday’s breakdown.
Newcastle’s medical staff will continue to monitor him closely, with Benitez having had extensive experience of dealing with players who are not 100 per cent happy with their own physical fitness.
“I have had to nurse a lot of players,” said the Magpies manager. “A lot of teams have more problems than we have. The only way to sort it is to keep doing the prevention work and don’t take any risks if it is not necessary.
“It’s something you have to explain to him. You have your way to treat injuries, your way to train and prepare, and your way to prevent injuries. He was doing the prevention work and was doing well, but it’s a personal thing.
“Could he be involved at Brighton? We have to see. He has to train so we can see the feeling that he has. If he feels fine, we will see what he wants to do.”
Mitrovic will lead the line this afternoon, with Daryl Murphy returning to the substitutes’ bench, and while Benitez was frustrated at the actions of some of the Serbian’s inner circle, who attempted to link him with a potential January move, he is hoping he makes even more heads turn in the final two months of the season.
Paris St Germain made a tentative January approach for Mitrovic, but Benitez was always adamant he would not be going anywhere.
When Gayle was last absent, Mitrovic scored the winner against Wolves, and as he looks to open up a four-point gap to Brighton ahead of the Seagulls’ evening game with Reading, Benitez is hoping the former Anderlecht striker enjoys similar success this afternoon.
“If he scores 15 goals between now and the end of the season, I will be talking about him again, which will be good,” he said. “If he scores a lot of goals, a lot of people will be talking about him. He’s working hard in training, so I’m happy with that.
“I think he suffered because of expectations at the start of the season. Everyone was thinking he would score a lot of goals, but then Gayle started well and it wasn’t easy for Mitro to know why he wasn’t number one. He was waiting.
“Now, he has realised that Gayle is doing so well he has to do better. He was working even harder, and now is the time to perform.”
Vurnon Anita returns to the squad this afternoon, and finds himself competing with DeAndre Yedlin for the right-back slot. Rolando Aarons will not be considered, but the winger has returned to training after completing his recovery from knee ligament surgery.