Steve Bruce Claims That Key Newcastle Duo Are Close to Suffering Burn Out

​Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has revealed that two of his key players Joelinton and Miguel Almirón are suffering from a lack of rotation.

The Magpies have been plagued by injuries all season and as such Bruce has not been afforded the luxury to chop and change his starting lineup. The South American duo of Joelinto and Almiron have featured in all but two of Newcastle's 29 matches across all competitions this season, with Bruce highlighting their need for the upcoming winter break.

Speaking after Saturday's goalless draw with Norwich, Bruce told the ​Chronicle Live: "Look, with the problems that we've had - and I don't want to highlight it – you can see with Joe in particular and with Almirón over the last two or three weeks, it would be lovely to be in a position where I could rotate them a little bit.

"They've played every minute, practically, of every game and I haven't got the luxury now of changing anything at that end of the pitch to give us a little bit of a spark.

"The good thing in all of those games we haven't played well enough, we'll accept that, but we haven't been beaten either, which is always important and it was important today that we didn't get beaten."

With forwards Andy Carroll, Yoshinori Muto and Dwight Gayle all ruled out of Tuesday's FA Cup fourth-round replay with Oxford United, Bruce will likely once again be forced to turn to Joelinton and Almirón in attack.

However, there is a merciful 12-day gap until Newcastle's next competitive fixture against Arsenal in the Premier League following the midweek cup clash. Bruce has earmarked this break as time to spend with the family after scrapping the trip to a warmer climate the club have opted for in the past two seasons.

While the South American double act has played almost 50 matches combined this season, the pair can boast only six goals between them across the league and cups.

However, four of those goals have come in January, so Newcastle fans and Bruce, will be hoping the pair can maintain that form following the break.