Once again Newcastle is in the news for the wrong reasons, this time being that Nigerian International Obafemi Martins missed the Toon’s 1 – 1 result on the road to Stoke after calling in sick after picking up an injury overnight. Unfortunately for interim head coach Alan Shearer, this will be the first time he’s publicly tested as a manager and how he’ll deal with the situation during a time his team is in the midst of a relegation battle.

Via TimesOnline

Martins was due to start at the Britannia Stadium, but he called the club at 11am and told his employers that he had woken up with a groin strain. Shearer, who has introduced a strict new regime at St James’ Park based on discipline and punctuality, denied that the forward had missed the trip because he had hit the snooze button and overslept.

“I’m not happy with the situation and I’m not happy to find out so late in the day,” Shearer said. “He didn’t sleep in at all, that’s not true. I spoke to him on Saturday morning and asked him. I’ll speak to him again on Monday morning and we’ll have another look at it.”

Martins was examined by the club’s medical staff on Saturday and Shearer confirmed that the forward could not have played, although he appeared to find it difficult to believe that Martins could have been injured overnight when he had been training without any problems during the week.

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