Source: Northern_Echo
Carroll eases striker crisis
HAVING failed to sign a striker on loan last week, Chris Hughton admits that Andy Carroll’s fine run of form is buying him precious time as he continues to scour the loan market for an attacker.
Carroll scored his second goal in the space of four days as Newcastle beat Plymouth 3-1 at the weekend, and the quality of his all-round display was one of the key differences between the promotion- chasing Magpies and a Pilgrims side rooted to the foot of the Championship table.
With Shola Ameobi expected to be sidelined for another two months, Hughton is hardly blessed with a plethora of attacking options at the moment.
But Newcastle’s interim boss claims Carroll’s current purple patch is reducing the need for urgent action in the loan market.
“Up front is an area we’re still looking to strengthen, more so because of the number of games we’ve got to play,” said Hughton. “But Andy Carroll is certainly solving some problems for us.
“Andy has been out for a period of weeks, and it was touch and go whether I started him at Blackpool (on Wednesday). But he more or less made that decision for me despite just two days training. He said he felt great.
“At a different time I’d have left him on the bench, but he forced the issue and felt stronger for the Blackpool game, which prompted me to play him again.
“It’s a big opportunity for him because, with Shola being out, we’re not exactly over-blessed. We’re delighted with the contribution of Nile Ranger, but he’s still a young lad learning the game.”
Hughton will continue to monitor the availability of his loan targets this week, but having been rebuffed in his attempts to sign Fulham’s Diomansy Kamara, the Newcastle boss is also struggling to put together a deal for Marlon Harewood because of the size of the Aston Villa striker’s wage demands.
Hull’s Daniel Cousin is an alternative option, but with Carroll, Ranger and Ameobi all sharing the same build, Hughton is now looking for a quicker forward to complement his existing attacking pack.
“The ideal would be a different kind of striker to what we’ve got,” he said. “If you look at this division, there are some good forwards.
There are some excellent forwards in this league and we have to match that, so we need more options and another body.”
