Joelinton looked certain to be hit with a two-game ban at some stage when he picked up his ninth Premier League yellow card of the season in the 2-1 home defeat to Fulham on February 1.
Had he taken his tally to ten in the intervening period, he would automatically have been suspended, but he has successfully avoided another booking in Newcastle’s last five league games.
As a result, he has passed the cut-off point where previous bookings are wiped from the record, and will not now face an automatic ban if he receives a yellow card in Saturday’s game at Aston Villa.
“It just goes to show he can do it,” joked Tindall, who will remain in charge at Villa Park with head coach Eddie Howe still in hospital as he receives treatment for pneumonia. “Of course, that was always in the back of our mind, hence we’ve brought him off in the last two games probably earlier than he normally would come off.
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“It’s testament to Joe because it’s difficult when you’re such a physical player like he is to go that long without receiving a booking. That’s difficult, but credit to him, and thankfully we’ve now avoided that deadline and Joe is free to be Joelinton.”
Joelinton has formed a potent midfield trio with Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali for the majority of this season, with the latter having come into his own since being switched into a deeper-lying midfield role.
Tonali was superb in last night’s thrashing of Crystal Palace, dictating play from the base of midfield and driving Newcastle forward with a series of superb long passes.
“Sandro has got so many great qualities,” said Tindall. “We know he’s exceptional on the ball, whether it’s one touch, two touch, he always makes really good decisions.
“He’s very, very quick, and reads the game extremely well. I think the midfield three at the minute have a really good balance and complement each other extremely well. I think everybody’s starting to see that.”
