Steve Bruce is confident his Newcastle side can cope with the loss of Ciaran Clark should the defender fail to recover from a knock in time to face Aston Villa. But he’s done everything — he’s played, he’s got minutes under his belt on the training ground and he’s ready to go. He feels he’s ready, and I think that’s the most important thing — he knows his knee better than anybody. He’s done all his minutes and he’s ready to go. Touch wood, whatever combination we have put together have done OK.“The competition there is very, very healthy and good, which is a good thing.

Source: The Irish Times November 24, 2019 10:18 UTC