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Steve Bruce admits that ‘some of the things’ that happened during the COVID-19 outbreak at the club ‘really surprised him’ as the Newcastle United head coach confirmed that two players will not be ready to return for at least a couple weeks.
Newcastle was forced to temporarily close its training ground after a sharp spike in infections in the first team’s training bubble, following the victory at Crystal Palace, which led to the Magpies’ match against Aston Villa being postponed. earlier this month.
Bruce’s team was able to return to group training at their Benton base last week and the whites and whites went on to beat West Brom at St James’ Park a few days later.
While Newcastle have had three series of negative tests in the last six days, two players and two staff members are still poor at home.
“The most important thing is the fatigue and the way it has left you feeling tired,” Bruce told reporters on Zoom. “The players are fit, healthy and young and, for the vast majority, that affects them.
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“But unfortunately, for two of the players in particular, it hasn’t affected them. I think it would be wrong for me to go into too much detail, but they won’t be ready for at least a couple of weeks.
“For the vast majority of players, it affects them, but not all. Isaac [Hayden] It has been made public, as far as I can speak for him, and he was in bed for a week. He is arguably our fittest player.
“It has no limits. I think being young and fit helps you recover better, but in the week leading up to Crystal Palace, some of the things that happened really surprised me.
“From having no one, the way it went all over the place was pretty scary. The decision of Brian from the Premier League, who has been here every day monitoring her since March, and the doctor and medical staff to shut us down was crucial. .
“Otherwise, God knows what he would have done. He would have shattered everyone he thought, the way he was going. It was ridiculous.”
Newcastle, out of respect, has not named any of the people who tested positive for COVID-19, but Isaac Hayden and Federico Fernández confirmed they had the virus previously.
Jamaal Lascelles, Allan Saint-Maximin, Fabian Schar, Javier Manquillo and Mark Gillespie are among those who remain absent, for one reason or another, ahead of the black and white trip to Leeds on Wednesday night.
Players and staff have been tested more regularly than usual in recent days and Bruce has had a conversation with Managing Director Lee Charnley about maintaining that testing pace.
“As a club, I think we will,” he added. “It is governed by the Premier League so there are still discussions. I was the first to mention it at the league coaches meeting when I thought we should try out twice a week.
“Doctors told me it wasn’t necessary. However, after what I witnessed in the week leading up to Crystal Palace, we should all get tested twice a week.
“The way it slid through us was pretty scary and these are young, fit athletes. That didn’t matter one iota. We have two really bad staff members. We have two players, in particular, who it had a harsh effect on. in. They won’t be available for at least a couple of weeks. “
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