This blow has 'devastated' Steve Bruce at Newcastle United
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The Newcastle United winger has been sidelined since late August, when he suffered an ankle injury in the club’s Carabao Cup defeat to Leicester City.
It was revealed yesterday that Ritchie had had a second operation and would not play again this year.
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Hide Ad“Matt’s a blow – we’re all disappointed,” said head coach Bruce, who labelled Hamza Choudhury’s tackle on Ritchie as a “horror challenge” at the time. “Nothing worse for a player than having an operation like he did and the surgeon decides he needs a bit more. We’re all devastated.
“He had a period of rest, saw the specialist and had the operation the next morning. We hope he’s back early January. It happens in football – I said at the time it was a bad challenge – but it’s worse when the player is out for a long time.”