Benitez confirms weekend absence of key Newcastle star

Newcastle skipper Jamaal Lascelles is out of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth with a knee injury.

Lascelles failed to re-appear after the break in last weekend’s 3-2 fightback victory over Everton at St James’ Park and joins keeper Rob Elliot and midfielder Sean Longstaff on the sidelines, although fellow central defender Ciaran Clark is fit to resume.

Manager Rafael Benitez said: “We had Longstaff and Elliot, now we have Lascelles, who is still feeling a little bit his knee, so we will not take any risks. We’ll wait two or three days to see how he reacts.

“But Clark is available, so we lose one, but at least we have another one.”

 

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