Newcastle United star confirms major injury boost after ‘set-backs’ - won’t play against PSG

The Swedish right-back played the opening 45-minutes of Newcastle Under-21s’ 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest Under-21s at Whitley Park on Friday. It was Krafth’s first appearance since suffering a serious ACL injury at Tranmere Rovers in August 2022.

And he was supported by team-mates including Sven Botman, Sean Longstaff, Matt Ritchie and Alexander Isak, who were in attendance for the Under-21s match.

Reflecting on his return, Krafth said: “I feel really good. So happy to be back playing football again. It’s been a long time with a few set-backs as well but it’s very good to be back and playing my first 45-minutes.”

Krafth also recently took part in an intra-squad practice match with the Newcastle first-team players at the training ground as he plans to step up his match fitness.

“That was the plan [to play 45-minutes],” Krafth added. “I played with the lads 30 minutes before so this was my second game and my next game will be around 75 [minutes], so I build myself up.

“Physically I feel, really, really good. Maybe because I’ve been running a lot lately but I’m feeling good and ready to go for the next game.”

Krafth has been out of first-team action for over 13 months, missing almost all of last season as Newcastle finished fourth in the Premier League. As a result of his injury, Krafth has also been left out of United’s Champions League squad.

“It was really hard,” Krafth continued. “It was my first big injury and I didn’t really know what to expect but I had a lot of conversations with people who had done it before so I knew a little bit about it.

“It’s a big injury and you shouldn’t rush back from it. I’ve had a few set-backs and I think it’s normal when you have an injury like this.

“I had a problem with my back which I think comes from the body forgetting the movements a little bit and the body has to get used to it and the loads and everything when you haven’t been doing it for a while.

“Everything feels good [now] and I’m very happy.”