Lee Ryder delivers big six-word NUFC injury update, it'll leave Howe relieved - opinion

A big Newcastle United injury update has emerged on Joe Willock and Jonjo Shelvey after they missed out on the clash with Chelsea.

Chronicle reporter Lee Ryder has revealed that the pair were both absent due to illness and did not miss out because of any injury concerns.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game as he brilliantly brought the ball down in the box and prodded past Martin Dubravka, ending the club’s long unbeaten run in the Premier League before they could reach 10 matches.

That came after the Magpies had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down earlier in the second half. Jacob Murphy was sent tumbling down by Trevor Chalobah and the referee waved away all appeals.

Ryder Tweeted: “Shelvey and Willock have an illness #nufc.”

Howe will be relieved that both players are ill instead of being injured as it hopefully means they can swiftly recover from their ailment before being available to face Everton on Thursday night. Whereas, there may have been more concern had they both sustained knocks.

Losing either player for an extended period of time would have been a huge blow and that is why the head coach will be delighted that they are not injured.

Shelvey’s SofaScore rating of 6.91 makes him the fifth-best performing player at the club this season – second if you exclude January signings – and Willock has hit form of late with two goals in his last four Premier League outings.

Having both players out was a setback for Howe against Chelsea because he was unable to call upon their quality and it left him with almost no option but to select Sean Longstaff. The Newcastle academy product struggled at Stamford Bridge as he completed just 68% of his passes and only made one tackle, whilst failing to make any key