Yes pinch yourself, that’s right. Newcastle United have managed to string two wins in a row together. Unfortunately they had to do that just as the Royals head to St. James’ Park to face King Kev’s Army. Confidence will be high at the home of fickle football fans and they must be thinking they can make it three on the trot. Victory for the Royals and a defeat for Bolton will surely mean we can sleep soundly in our beds knowing we face a third season in the top flight.
The only major concern coming into the game will be the suspension of Marek Matejovsky, after his ridiculous sending off last weekend in the draw with Blackburn. The boss has already confirmed that Kalifa Cisse will be taking his place at the centre of midfield…great. I don’t know if I’m the only one but from what I’ve seen he hasn’t been a particularly good signing and he doesn’t seem to possess any natural footballing ability. But at least he won’t be playing in the back four otherwise I’d be really annoyed, so hopefully Ivar and Bikey can avoid any form of suspension from now until the end of the season.
There is some good news heading into the weekend and that is the return of Glen Little. He looks set to be named in the squad for the first time in over a year after he has finally overcome his injuries. I think it will be very unlikely that he will feature at all in the game as he has only just returned to reserve team football, but it’s encouraging to know that he has recovered and he can challenge John Oster for the starting berth at right wing. But hopefully he will come back as strong as he was before the injury because he can be a great asset to the Royals and he has been missed all season.
Last seasons’ meeting at St. James’ Park saw the Royals suffer a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Turkish internation Emre, who scored a last gasp goal to give Newcastle all three points. But we have the upper hand on the Toon Army this season as goals from Kitson and Shane Long’s eyes shut and just swing method gave us a 2-1 win over Allardyce’s team back in October at the Mad Stad. Let’s hope we can do the double over our fellow strugglers. The god of footballing predictions Lawro has decided that Newcastle are going to win 2-0 in this one. But I’m going to be a bit optimistic and, just like last week, I reckon it will be a 1-1 draw.
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