This could spell trouble for Steve Bruce and Newcastle United

Callum Wilson limped off the pitch against Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium with a hamstring injury which could keep him out for a number of weeks.

Ryan Fraser, worryingly, is also “touch and go” for the November 21 home game against Chelsea with a hamstring injury. Wilson’s injury, however, is the most troubling given how important the striker, signed from Bournemouth this summer for £15million, is to a team which struggled for goals last season.

The 28-year-old has already scored six goals this season, which is as many as leading scorer Jonjo Shelvey did all last season.

“We’ll not know how bad it is until we get him scanned and see just how bad it is,” Bruce told the Gazette. “Like with Ryan, it’s obviously a big blow, but we hope that it’s not too bad. We’ll see.”

Everyone’s hoping it’s not too bad.

Steve Bruce – who has Dwight Gayle on the way back from injury – has been criticised a lot since taking charge of the club last year, but there weren’t any dissenting voices when he signed Wilson. It was an astute signing.

Newcastle have been badly affected by injuries this season, but the club isn’t alone.

Premier League injuries are up by around 15% this season according to The Times due to the shorter-than-normal summer break and the congested behind-closed-doors fixture list.

And there are clubs pushing again allow five substitutes during games, as was the case in the summer under Project Restart.

That would benefit the club’s with the biggest, strongest squads, and the challenge for Bruce and managers further down the division is to manage their players over the coming weeks and months to minimise muscle injuries.

Bruce can take stock, both of the Southampton result and the worrying injury situation at the club, over the international break.

Wilson has scored six of United's 10 Premier League goals so far this season, and he is he one player United’s head coach can ill afford to lose for any length of time.

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