Miley’s position at Newcastle going forward remains uncertain
11:00, 19 Jan 2026Updated 12:29, 19 Jan 2026
Lewis Miley of Newcastle United (Image: Stuart Leggett/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has admitted he is unsure what will happen with Lewis Miley’s position moving forward in the next few weeks.
In the midst of a defensive injury crisis, the Newcastle teenager filled in at right-back, despite having never played there before, and excelled, arguably being the club’s best player across the last few weeks.
But he was dropped to the bench in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Wolves as Kieran Trippier, a natural right-back, was preferred from the start instead.
Howe insisted his decision to pull Miley out of the starting XI was to give him a bit of a breather after playing lots of football in recent weeks, especially given Newcastle’s gruelling upcoming schedule.
Miley came on as a second half substitute at Molineux and replaced Sandro Tonali in his regular position in midfield. The 19-year-old looked as assured as ever in the middle of the park.
The question now, with Newcastle still only having four fit senior defenders, is whether the 19-year-old will only be considered for selection in midfield moving forward, or whether Howe still sees him as a right-back option in the coming weeks.
“I don’t know what happens from this point onwards,” Howe told Chronicle Live, when asked if the Wolves game was a circuit breaker from Miley’s right-back experiment.
“I thought it was a good time to just give Lewy a little breather. He has played a lot of games in a short period of time.
“Also to let Kieran play. He is still a very good attacking full-back and it was good to see him play 90 minutes. I thought Lewy did really well when he came on in midfield. It was just good to have Lewy available and so versatile in various positions.”
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