Pundit Paul Robinson believes Newcastle United defender Federico Fernandez has given Steve Bruce "food for thought" with his performance against Wolves.
The 30-year-old was handed his first start in the Premier League on Sunday alongside captain Jamaal Lascelles and Ciaran Clark to replace the injured Fabian Schar.
And the Argentine international delivered an accomplished display - even picking up the assist for United's only goal of the game.
Competition for places in the Magpies' defensive trio is fierce. Florian Lejeune completed 45 minutes for the under-23s on his road to recovery from an ACL injury suffered in April, while Paul Dummett has sat out the last three matches.
Former Leeds and Tottenham goalkeeper Robinson praised Fernandez for his display on his return to the starting eleven, believing United did well to hold on to a point with ten-men against a Wolves side in the ascendancy.
Scoring goals is the conundrum Bruce needs to solve as United look set for a third successive battle against relegation. But Robinson believes Fernandez's performance will have added to the Bruce's defensive headache, with six central defenders vying for three spots.
Speaking to Football Insider, Robinson was asked whether Fernandez's performance had given Bruce food for thought and replied: “Yeah definitely especially when they went down to 10-men as they had their backs-to-the-wall and offered very little offensively.
“They were under the cosh defensively and probably for them in hindsight, to come away with the draw was a good result and it was a good defensive performance.”
