It’s fair to say Sunday was a pretty disastrous day for Newcastle United, in more ways than one.
If losing in extra-time to Brighton to knock us out of the FA Cup wasn’t enough, we head into a new week with new injury concerns and a suspension that will almost certainly keep Anthony Gordon out of our next three games.
After the dust settled on a devastating defeat and another messy display at St James’ Park, Eddie Howe offered an update on five injury concerns.
Lewis Hall was the main absentee for Newcastle today, and Sven Botman still didn’t make the squad despite earlier hopes that the Dutchman was nearing a return.
With a crunch Premier League fixture against West Ham on the horizon, before the all-important game against Liverpool on March 16th, Howe provided updates on the fitness of several key players.
Hall has no timescale on a return from an ankle issue, which is a worry given his form at left-back and solid performance against Mo Salah on Wednesday. Howe added “we don’t know yet”, with the club “awaiting feedback” following a scan and visit to see a specialist after feeling some pain during our midweek defeat at Liverpool.
Isak “felt a tightness, not an injury, but had to come off” in a move that almost stopped Newcastle’s attacking potential entirely on Sunday afternoon.
Howe said: “Alex (Isak) had some tightness in his body but not an injury. The longer it went on, the greater the risk, so he was taken off before any problems.” Hopefully that settles ahead of West Ham away a week today.
As for Botman, who was absent from the squad once again despite training on Friday, Howe revealed he was close, but “didn’t feel 100% confident to start”.
“We need the week to dust ourselves down and regroup, as we have been tested,” Howe said. “We had a small squad, we couldn’t get Sven Botman fit [in time for this Brighton match] and we can’t afford to lose anyone else.”
With injury and suspension issues mounting ahead of the final in two weeks time, Howe added: “We hope they don’t turn into big problems for us because that would be really tough for us. We don’t have the strength in depth we need.”
Kieran Trippier meanwhile ‘felt his back’ and had to be replaced by Matt Targett despite an otherwise solid performance from the veteran.
His fullback partner Tino Livramento “was suffering from cramp” with his battles against Yankuba Minteh and Tariq Lamptey, which may explain why he was slow to play Danny Welbeck offside for their late winner.
Injuries rapidly derailed the Magpies last season, and in a time the team desperately needs to build momentum, we’ll have to hope that all five are back soon.
With Gordon already ruled out of the final, it feels vital the likes of Hall, Botman and Isak are fine for the trip to Wembley a week on Sunday.