Bruno Fernandes hasn’t missed a minute for Manchester United since he sat out of Newcastle United’s visit to Old Trafford through suspension in December.

Now, as we prepare for the reverse fixture with the Tynesiders, Ruben Amorim has been asked about the possibility of rotating his side and potentially giving his captain a rest.

Bruno’s ability to keep going through even the busiest of schedules is legendary and the Portugal international hasn’t let the workload get to him in recent weeks.

The Premier League’s reigning Player of the Month scored six goals in March and was again key in Thursday’s 2-2 draw in Lyon, playing an important role in goals for Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee.

The second leg with the Ligue Un outfit will be our biggest game of the season so far, and Amorim has a choice to make regarding his XI on Sunday, as the St James’s Park clash against a physical Newcastle side is likely to take plenty out of the players.

Amorim conceded that, although he would have to consult the data in regards to a few members of his squad, some – including Bruno – thrive off always being involved.

“It’s an evaluation,” Ruben said of the situation with Bruno.

“We’ll make this evaluation with all the staff, with all the data that we have, and then because we know already the players, we will try to protect the ones that it will be hard to make a lot of games.

“But Bruno Fernandes is playing all the time and he’s playing better all the time. Sometimes, this kind of player has to play in every match.

“But we will address that in these days that we have to prepare.”

Fernandes has been involved for 4,078 of a possible 4,470 minutes this season – not including added time – and is, once again, a strong candidate to claim the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award.

He’s our leading scorer across all competitions, with 16 goals, and the 30-year-old has also laid on 18 assists for team-mates.

“Sometimes, winning games is the best way of preparing the next one,” Amorim continued, in regards to his selection in the north east.

“Of course, I’m going to be careful with some players, but we need to be competitive. When you are playing for Manchester United, you cannot go to the game thinking about the next one.

“So we are going to face this one. We have three days and we are going to prepare the game in the way without a lot of running, a lot of training.

“It’s just recovering. And then we will be fine on Thursday, with our fans. But we need to face Newcastle in a way that we can win the game.”

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Ruben Amorim expects to take a similar squad to Newcastle United as the one he had for the Europa League draw in Lyon.

The Manchester United head coach was asked about the prospect of rotating his players, with the all-important second leg against the French side to come at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

However, Amorim was clear that there is still a responsibility to get results in the Premier League, with the Reds sitting in 13th spot in the table, and four points behind the team above us in Brentford.

When quizzed on whether any of the absentees could return on Tyneside, the boss said: “No, I think it’s the same.

“There’s a great responsibility. We don’t have a team that is really big to do that [rotate], and then we have some players that I know that cannot make 90 minutes in this moment still.

“We have be careful, so we will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle. But we have a great responsibility when we play any game, so I will try to look at that. That is for sure. But we have to face Newcastle with a team that we can be competitive, and to win the game.”

Young striker Chido Obi is available again after being ineligible in Europe, while Kobbie Mainoo made his first appearance since February, when coming off the bench to good effect in France.

Mason Mount was also introduced in the second half and could be pressing for a first start since the Manchester derby in December. Luke Shaw must be close to seeing some action after twice being an unused substitute.

Ayden Heaven is bidding to regain full fitness, as are Amad and Jonny Evans, but Matthijs de Ligt and Toby Collyer have been added to the list of absentees recently. Lisandro Martinez is out for the season.

NEWCASTLE’S TEAM NEWS

Magpies manager Eddie Howe has been ill and his press conference duties were conducted by his assistant Jason Tindall. However, he is expected to be well enough to be in the dugout on Sunday.

Tindall revealed a boost for the hosts regarding Anthony Gordon, with the winger, who scored home and away against the Reds last season, back in training and pushing for a place in the matchday squad. The England international suffered a hip problem during the recent international break.

“He’s had a decent week with the physios,” said Tindall. “He was back out on grass for a session yesterday, so we’ll assess him today to see how he’s responded to that, then we’ll have to make a late call on whether he’s available for Sunday.”

Joe Willock does look set to miss out, though, along with Sven Botman, Lewis Hall and Jamaal Lascelles.

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Ruben Amorim believes the Manchester United fans have played a big part in Joshua Zirkzee’s emergence as a key figure at this crucial stage of the season.

The Dutchman came off the bench to score in a second successive away match in the knockout stages of the Europa League, our last chance of glory this term, and helped secure a 2-2 draw at Lyon.

Our summer arrival from Bologna has had his ups and downs, including scoring and missing the vital penalty kicks in Emirates FA Cup shootouts and suffering a negative reaction when being substituted in the reverse fixture with Sunday’s opponents, Newcastle United.

It is to his great credit that he bounced back from that low against the Magpies and, during his press conference to preview the St James’ Park encounter, Amorim outlined why the resurgence is down to a combination of the player’s efforts and the backing of the supporters ever since that 2-0 home defeat at the end of 2024.

Here is what our head coach had to say to the media, during his briefing in advance of the 16:30 BST kick-off…

Obviously Josh had a tough time against Newcastle last time out in December. You brought him off on 33 minutes, I believe. That was a really hard moment for him. Since then he’s come back, he’s scored some big goals, the penalty in the Arsenal shootout. Obviously he’s shown great character to come back from that…
“Yes, he’s doing a great job. Also a very important thing was the way the fans react after that incident. So if you see, every time, even if Josh is not playing, every time he gets on the pitch or just warming up, our fans sing the Josh song. So that is massive for the player, so it’s 50-50. Fifty per cent part of the fans and 50 per cent of Josh.”

What did you say to help him back?
“The same thing. I explained the situation because, as a former player, I wanted to hear some explanation sometimes from the coaches and I am really open that. I just want to help the team and then work with him. With all the work that all the staff is doing with him he’s improving, and then I put him to play. This is the only way to show confidence to the player.”

When the club got to the last stages of the Europa League under Jose Mourinho, he started to rotate heavily in the last Premier League games, because there wasn’t a lot to play for. Are you likely to do that similarly now, when these Europa League games become more critical?
“But there’s a great responsibility. We don’t have a team that is really big to do that, and then we have some players that I know that cannot make 90 minutes in this moment still. We have be careful, so we will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle. But we have a great responsibility when we play any game, so I will try to look at that. That is for sure. But we have to face Newcastle with a team that we can be competitive, and to win the game.”

Will you have roughly the same squad for that game on Sunday, or will some players come back?
“No, I think it’s the same.”

What do you make of Newcastle at the moment? You indicated before the derby that you might rotate. Are you going to have to prioritise next Thursday?
“Sometimes winning games is the best way of preparing the next one. Of course, I’m going to be careful with some players, but we need to be competitive. When you are playing for Manchester United you cannot go to the game thinking about the next one. So we are going to face this one. We have three days and we are going to prepare the game in the way without a lot of running, a lot of training. It’s just recovering. And then we will be fine on Thursday with our fans. But we need to face Newcastle in a way that we can win the game.”

What do you make of Newcastle and the threats that they pose, in particular?
“Everything. They have top players, really good on set-pieces, the physicality, the way they run in recovery when they are beaten in the first pressure. So they are a team that play together for a while. They won a title, that was really emotional for everybody – you can see it with that week. But again, we have to think in our team [about] the way we want to play these kinds of games, and we are being consistent in the way we play the games. So we’ll try to do the same on Sunday.”

On Bruno Fernandes, he’s played almost every minute this season. I think he’s played the last 20 matches. Does it come to a point where you’ve got to look at the Europa League next week? Does it come to a point where you take him out of the Newcastle game?
“It’s an evaluation. We’ll make this evaluation with all the staff, with all the data that we have, and then because we know already the players, we will try to protect the ones that it will be hard to make a lot of games. But Bruno Fernandes is playing all the time and he’s playing better all the time. Sometimes this kind of player has to play in every match. But we will address that in these days that we have to prepare.”

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