Newcastle United star facing four months on the sidelines after surgery decision & 'mistakes' made

Harvey Barnes' injury struggles at Newcastle United are set to continue for at least another month following the winger's latest set-back.

Barnes suffered a foot injury during Newcastle's 8-0 win at Sheffield United back in September and hasn't been seen in action since - missing 18 matches so far. The £38million summer arrival from Leicester City has made just two starts for The Magpies and five substitute appearances, scoring once off the bench on his Premier League debut for the club.

The 26-year-old's foot injury was described as 'very unusual' at the time by Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe as the player went down under no contact from an opposition player. The club decided against surgery following specialist advice and Barnes was on course to return to the fold for Newcastle before Christmas but his latest set-back will keep him out until early 2024.

Barnes could still require surgery should he face any further set-backs. An operation would extend his recovery time to the back end of the 2023-24 campaign. He is currently set to be on the sidelines for four months in total.

Providing an update on Barnes' situation, Howe said: "That is an ongoing process. He’s hopeful to come back within four to five weeks. That’s the latest plan." While not referencing Barnes specifically, Howe admitted there had been mistakes behind the scenes regarding the rehabilitation of some of his players. But The Magpies boss played down talk of a serious internal investigation into the club's injury problems.

“I don't think it takes much of an internal investigation," Howe admitted after the Fulham win on Saturday. "The problem we've had is because we've had injuries to start with.

"The early ones we picked up, it meant our squad has just not managed the games. It's been impossible to, we've had to pick the same players continually and eventually, those players with the load that they're playing under will break, so I think we've just been a victim of circumstance.

"Don't get me wrong, there have been mistakes made and there will always be mistakes made medically because it's that kind of profession.

"You're not going to get every assessment right. A lot of the time, you're in the hands of the specialist. But the weight of games we've had – and it's still unrelenting for us – we just haven't recovered properly.