LUUK de Jong’s confident Newcastle United can win without Loic Remy – for the first time this season. Remy is sidelined with a calf problem, and isn’t expected to be fit until next month. Newcastle – who take on Crystal Palace at St James’s Park on Saturday – haven’t won a Premier League game without the on-loan forward this season. And ninth-placed United have failed to score in the six matches he has not featured in this term. But fellow loanee de Jong, looking to earn a permanent move from Borussia Monchengladbach, feels manager Alan Pardew has enough firepower at his disposal. In Remy’s continued absence, striker de Jong is likely to again be partnered with Papiss Demba Cisse up front. “You can see that other players can score goals,” de Jong told the Gazette. “In the game against Hull we scored four goals. “Of course, Loic is a good player. Also, Mathieu (Debuchy) – who is not there – is a good player as well. “But we’ve got players who can fill in as well. We have to work hard in training again. “We can’t always depend on them, but they are good players, and you will always miss good players.” The odds on Newcastle finishing sixth and qualifying for the Europa League have lengthened significantly over the past two months. However, de Jong says he and his team-mates can’t look beyond the next game. “Where we are now, we just want to win games,” said the 23-year-old, who is yet to get off the mark for United. “We’ve got Crystal Palace at home. We need to work hard. “It will be a difficult game, like any Premier League game. That’s what we’re focused on.”
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 16:15:00 +0000
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