Fan Preview: Plymouth Vs Newcastle

Tonight is the night Newcastle can finally clinch what has effectively been theirs for months, the Championship title. All they need is a point against a poor Plymouth side who are fighting for their lives at the foot of the table. The Pilgrims are six points adrift of safety and are looking increasingly like a League 1 side, whereas Newcastle are six points clear of 2nd place and looking increasingly like a Premier League side.

The only danger for Newcastle like in many recent weeks is complacency, but the Geordies haven’t shown any signs of it in their wins over Blackpool and Reading. Plymouth will have to rely on fighting spirit and good luck if they are to give their home fans a rare victory, but it has to be said, they haven’t shown much of that in their last few games.

SkySports are showing the game live, which is a pain in the backside for pretty much everyone. Nobody knows what’s wrong with a Saturday 3 o’clock kick-off but the bigwigs at Sky fancied making themselves public enemy number one amongst the Toon Army by forcing them to endure an 820-mile round trip to watch their beloved team play.

The massive ash cloud that hangs over the majority of Europe means that the Newcastle players and fans alike can’t fly down to the game and have to make do with an arduous coach trip instead. The players set off yesterday to do their best to ensure tiredness doesn’t set in come kick-off.

Paul Marriner is without Craig Noone and midfielder Carl Fletcher is doubtful. Kari Arnesen is expected to be involved after sufficiently recovering from a hip injury. Luke Summerfield has now recovered from a hamstring injury and is a boost to the Pilgrims’ side.

Newcastle have lost Fabricio Coloccini with a hamstring injury but have Fitz Hall available after he recovered from his hamstring injury. Tamas Kadar wont feature because he has a thigh injury and Nile Ranger is missing for the remainder of the season with a sprained ankle. Ranger could have been in line for a few appearances at the tail end of the season but the injury has came at the worst time for the promising England under-19 striker. Also, Steven Taylor is still out with a knee/jaw injury.

A win tonight restores Newcastle to the Premier League as Championship champions, and it would also relegate Plymouth to League 1. A point for the Pilgrims would technically preserve their Championship status for one more game but the heavy goal difference would prove a difficult challenge. Plymouth really need a win if they are to stay up, I somehow can’t see it happening.

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