Striker Missing For Newcastle Test

Both Robert Huth and Andy King were withdrawn within the first 25 minutes of Wednesday night’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea, and the manager admitted that he’s still awaiting the results of scans on both of their injuries. 

“It’s a bit early,” said Pearson. “We’ve got one or two concerns of course. We had to make two substitutions early on and I thought that the players dealt with exceptionally well under the circumstances, and we were still very much in the game. 

“Those two apart, we’ve got players who have played a lot of football recently and it’s a quick turnaround. So we’ll have to see how they are again tomorrow (Friday). Hopefully we’ll have some better news. 

“Jeff Schlupp will [come into my thinking] but David Nugent won’t be ready in time for this one. 

“We’re waiting for the results on Robert Huth. It doesn’t appear to be as bad as first thought. We’ve got to take into consideration that he’s on loan, and he made the decision, and I always feel it’s positive when players make the decision on the pitch as to whether they can continue playing. 

“It’s unfortunate because you’ve used two substitutes against a side of Chelsea’s quality early in the game. So that does limit your options at a time when you’re hoping to stay in the game long enough to be able to make positive changes. 

“The players were outstanding last night in terms of what they gave. I think we caused an exceptional side a number of problems, but of course they showed the quality to see the job through.”