Personally I would have thought the whole point of the Reserve side was to keep fringe players match fit.
The classic case of ... how shall I put it ... 'reluctance' to play, was Albert Luque.
Hardly a "man amongst men", he had returned from injury and was thrown into the action for a Tyne/Wear Reserve derby.
His body language said it all, and we awaited the first tackle. Would he survive it, or would he bite the dust?
The touch from the Mackem defender was minimal ... at worst! Luque went down as though hit by a sniper's bullit, and that was the last we saw him play for the Reserves.
So where is this leading us? Well ... Steve Harper is making a rare appearance for the "Stiffs", and I'm sure the fella will last longer than Luque.
Harper is set to make a return to action in the reserve team clash at Wigan Athletic.
The classic case of ... how shall I put it ... 'reluctance' to play, was Albert Luque.
Hardly a "man amongst men", he had returned from injury and was thrown into the action for a Tyne/Wear Reserve derby.
His body language said it all, and we awaited the first tackle. Would he survive it, or would he bite the dust?The touch from the Mackem defender was minimal ... at worst! Luque went down as though hit by a sniper's bullit, and that was the last we saw him play for the Reserves.
So where is this leading us? Well ... Steve Harper is making a rare appearance for the "Stiffs", and I'm sure the fella will last longer than Luque.
Harper is set to make a return to action in the reserve team clash at Wigan Athletic.
The Toon goalkeeper has yet to taste any first team action after putting in some excellent displays at the back end of last season under Kevin Keegan and in pre-season during the summer.
The FA Premier Reserve League fixture is at 7.00 tonight (Tuesday) at Wigan's reserve team base at Robin Park.
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Harper, Morris, Folan, Doninger, Edgar, Tozer, Godsmark, Marwood, Ranger, Donaldson, Sammy Ameobi.