The Newcastle United players who've benefited most from the International break
Saturday's visit of Wigan will see Newcastle resume Championship duties after two weeks away, as we near the conclusion of the dreaded International break.
The break, however, appears to have come at an ideal time for The Magpies, with the side without a win in their previous three outings, also falling victim to a cluster of first team injuries.
All things considered, here are the Newcastle players who we believe to have benefited most from the recent International break:
Matt Ritchie
The winger was called up to the Scotland squad for their International double-header against Canada and Slovenia.
Ritchie, however, played no part in either game. While this must have been a frustrating for the 27 year-old, the midfielder, known for his intensity & work rate, will return to Tyneside injury free, fresh & raring to go.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
After failing to feature in any of Newcastle's last 5 games, the 22 year-old was in need of a confidence boost. This arrived over the weekend, as he found the net in impressive fashion in Serbia's 3-1 win in Georgia.
This bodes well for Mitrovic and Benitez, with the striker likely to play a part in the upcoming home double-header, as Daryl Murphy looks set to miss both games.
Jonjo Shelvey
It was recently confirmed that Shelvey had been suffering from illness, explaining why the midfielder was unable to start in The Magpies' latest league game at Birmingham.
With no International call-up for Jonjo, two weeks off is likely to have done our midfield maestro the world of good.
Paul Dummett / Vurnon Anita
The Chronicle reported recently that the NUFC full-backs had been playing through the pain barrier in recent weeks, relying on pain-killing injections to see them through games.
Hopefully, the break will have given the pair a much needed rest to ease their injury complaints.
Isaac Hayden
Newcastle have missed the 22 year-old and the break has come at an ideal time for the combative midfielder.
Following a week of training at the Benton base, the International break has given Isaac the ideal chance to recover in time for Saturday's visit of Wigan.
The return of Hayden would offer a timely boost to Rafa and his side.
