Newcastle’s trip to Everton postponed

Newcastle’s match away at Everton on Thursday has been postponed due to injuries and Covid cases in Eddie Howe’s squad.

Howe said on Monday that Newcastle were “dangerously close” to being unable to field a full team for the match.

Newcastle were only able to name eight substitutes, including two goalkeepers, instead of the maximum nine for Monday’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United, with the squad depleted due to injuries and COVID-19 cases.

They also lost Allan Saint-Maximin, Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser to injury against United, while full-back Javier Manquillo picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign, adding to Howe’s selection woes.

This is the first fixture Newcastle have had postponed since the Omicron variant began to wreak havoc with the Premier League schedule in December.

The Magpies are second-bottom, two points from safety, but have played four matches more than the team above them, Burnley, who are also on 11 points.