Newcastle United dealt fresh injury blow as 6ft 2in £20m man finally makes his debut
Newcastle United's injury curse reared its ugly head again in the first half of the Carabao Cup tie against Wimbledon.
Martin Dubravka was left in a sorry state after a crunch challenge from Omar Bugiel at the end of the first half. Both John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos were sent to warm up but Dubravka continued after receiving lengthy treatment.
The goalkeeper had barely had anything to do in the opening 45 minutes after Wimbledon failed to register a serious shot at goal. But he looked in trouble from the moment the Dons man flew in with for a 50-50 challenge.
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The Slovakia international was assessed at half-time but not risked for the second half and it was £20millon Greece international who got the nod to replace him. When analysing Bugiel's challenge on Dubravka, BBC 5 Live summariser Pat Nevin said: "You've got to say if you're a centre-forward, Omar Bugiel, you've kind of got to go for that one."
After much debate on the point of signing the Greece star - who kept two clean sheets for his country in the UEFA Nations League last month - Eddie Howe had simply said in September: "He's fighting for his place."
"Odysseas is very experienced at elite European and international level and he joins a strong group of senior goalkeepers. That strength in depth is valuable and means we go into the new season with strong competition in a key area."
Odysseas had said: "It's an honour for me to be part of this huge club, with excellent players and a great coach."
Newcastle went in 1-0 up at the break against the League Two side thanks to Fabian Schar's penalty.