Steve Bruce Orders Newcastle Squad to Train on Day Off After Norwich Loss & Gives Joelinton Update
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has called his players into training on what was supposed to be their day off following the 3-1 defeat to Norwich on Saturday.
Teemu Pukki's first hat trick for the Canaries sunk the Magpies in what was a disappointing performance from the visitors, who responded late on through Jonjo Shelvey.
According to the Daily Mail, Bruce was so 'annoyed' with the performance that the squad will now train on Sunday on what would have been their day off.
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The former Manchester United defender was unable to explain why his side could not perform at the required level at Carrow Road, stating: "If I knew the answer (to why) then of course I would have changed something. They are not bad players, but you have to apply yourself better than what we did today."
Bruce's Newcastle tenure has gotten off to a rocky start, suffering defeats to Arsenal on the opening day before the heavy loss to Norwich, leaving fans questioning the 58-year-old's ability to keep Newcastle up.
The manager seems to want more out of his players as well, thus calling them in for more training sessions in a bid to create an upturn in form that could help boost their chances of staying up.
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However, more bad news has struck for the Toon faithful as their record £40m signing Joelinton was forced off against Norwich. The Brazilian has suffered a hip problem, and will be an injury doubt to their trip to Tottenham.
"He has a hip injury," Bruce said. "We will do X-rays and scans, let's hope it's not too serious. He's sore. He's taken a nasty one to the side."
The Tyneside outfit are also missing their other £16m summer signing Allan Saint-Maximin as well as Dwight Gayle and Sean Longstaff, which certainly does not help Bruce.
