Anthony Gordon ruled out for Newcastle United as Eddie Howe provides training ground injury update
Newcastle United will be without at least four first-team players for their return to Premier League action against Brentford on Wednesday night (7:45pm kick-off).
Lewis Hall has been ruled out for the rest of the season following surgery to his foot while Sven Botman is hoping to return before the end of the campaign after undergoing surgery on his knee.
Jamaal Lascelles hasn’t featured for over a year due to an ACL injury and is fighting to return to action before the end of the season with his contract up in the summer.
Meanwhile, Anthony Gordon suffered a groin injury during the international break with England and is yet to return to full training at Newcastle. He will miss Wednesday’s match against Brentford due to suspension but will be hoping to be back in contention for the trip to Leicester City next Monday.
Eddie Howe provides Sven Botman Newcastle United injury update
Botman is still set for another month on the sidelines following minor surgery to his knee. The defender hasn’t featured since the 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final at St James’ Park almost two months ago.
“Yeah, Sven's not too bad,” Howe said during his Tuesday morning press conference. “He's had an operation, a very minor operation, just to clean out a bit of floating bone that was in his knee that was causing him the problem.
“I think the initial diagnosis was between six to eight weeks. But I think he's already got through two or three of those.
“So he's on the road, he's feeling good. Fingers crossed we'll see him probably in May sometime.”
Anthony Gordon injury update
Gordon will serve the final match of his three-game suspension on Wednesday night after being sent off against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup last month. The 23-year-old missed the Carabao Cup final before going away on international duty with England.
“Yeah, Anthony has a really nasty bruise in and around his thigh, groin area,” Howe said.
“He's up and running, feeling quite good. He hasn't trained with the group yet, so we anticipate he'll do that within the next few days, hopefully.”
Uncertainty over Jamaal Lascelles
Lascelles hasn’t played for Newcastle since last March but played a central role in the Carabao Cup celebrations as club captain. He is back in light training ahead of the final 10 games of the season but Howe is unsure whether the defender will be available before the end of the campaign.
“I don't know whether we'll see Jamal before the end of the season,” Howe admitted. “I don't really want to set a target on his time to return.
“I think he has started very light training with the squad, but that would be light, not necessarily in competitive drills. But on the drills that are non-competitive he has joined in, and he’s looked really good.
“Small steps for him. We're hoping that he can definitely be joining in and competing in training before the end of the season, whether that ties in with the team, and whether he gets there in time, let's wait and see, for competitive action. But he's a big player, as you said, he's very popular. He's still a huge leader in the group.
“He's got a big presence. I'm delighted that he got the chance to lift the cup with the other guys, and he deserved that moment for the length of time he's been here and the service he's given the club.”