Slav says Noble decided to take a break

Slaven Bilic has confirmed that Mark Noble’s state of mind is as responsible for his absence from the game against Leicester City as his body.

This was a situation first suggested  on ClaretandHugh that the manager may leave the captain out of the team following his comments about “some fans not understanding the game” after he received widespread criticism on social media.

Head of medical and sports science Stijn Vandenbroucke had revealed Noble’s injury on the official site last night (Thurs) but the manager has now made it clear he had spoken to Noble about his mindset after a difficult week.

Slav said: “He is exactly what a captain should be, yet sometimes it is too much. Sometimes he takes it home and thinks about that – not only about him but about the club.

“A man can take only what he can take. I spoke about that with him. He is not available for Saturday’s  game and after that we have an international break.

“I left it to him and it’s his decision to go away somewhere for a week to get away and come back as strong as he was.”

It now looks a certainty that Cheik Kouyate and Pedro Obiang will form the midfield partnership which many fans have been crying out for with Sam Byram slipping into the right back position.