The last thing you need when looking to avoid the drop is having to sell your classy goalkeeper and seeing your star striker ruled out for six weeks. Andrew Atherley explains how Newcastle's stats without these two suggest on the pitch suggest they are a big loss.

For Newcastle to lose one of their best players may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. The misfortune was the ankle injury that ruled out top striker Michael Owen for up to six weeks. As if that w