Wolves delivered injury hammer blow ahead of Newcastle United clash as key man ruled-out
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Newcastle United v Wolves: Vitor Pereira has a major injury concern to deal with this weekend as he is set to be without his key man.
Jorgen Strand Larsen has been ruled-out of featuring against Newcastle United this weekend. The Norwegian international missed Wolves’ last outing against Everton with an injury, but it had been hoped that he would be fit enough to make the trip to St James’ Park.
However, Vitor Pereira has confirmed that his talisman is not fit enough to feature on Saturday. The 57-year-old said: “We are without Larsen, the injury was a bit more serious and he's trying to come back,” Pereira revealed.
“We want him back as soon as possible, but he's not training yet.”
Strand Larsen netted twice during his last appearance for Wolves, helping his side overturn a 2-1 deficit against West Ham in the Carabao Cup. The Norwegian, though, as mentioned, missed their next outing against Everton and then withdrew early from international duty.
Losing Strand Larsen to injury means that Wolves will be without their top scorer from last season and potentially forced into handing new signing Tolu Arokodare a Premier League debut. Arokodare completed a £24m move to Molineux from Belgian side Genk on deadline day.
Alternatively, Pereira may opt to start South Korean international Hwang Hee-chan. The 29-year-old enjoys a decent scoring record against the Magpies during his time with Wolves.
Jorgen Strand Larsen transfer and injury news
Strand Larsen was, of course, heavily-linked with a move to St James’ Park throughout the summer. The Magpies’ search for attacking reinforcements eventually landed them at the doors of Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade - with the pair joining the Magpies for a combined fee of around £120m.
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However, Strand Larsen also featured highly on their wishlist and was the subject of two bids from Tyneside during the final week of the transfer window. Both were rejected by Wolves who were determined to keep hold of their main man.
They were ultimately able to do that but will be desperate for a positive update on his achilles injury and that he won’t be out of action long-term. Wolves currently sit rock-bottom of the Premier League table and are the only side without a single point to their name so far this season.
The Magpies, meanwhile, will be without Wissa on Saturday after he suffered an injury during DR Congo’s defeat against Senegal in midweek. Eddie Howe confirmed on Friday morning that the striker would be absent this weekend and see a ‘specialist’ to understand the full extent of his injury.
“He won’t make this game,” Howe said when asked about Wissa. “I saw him for the first time yesterday and he’s feeling the effects so he won’t be available.
“He’ll go away for tests and to see a specialist so we’ll wait and see [how he is].”
Howe added: “He is an established Premier League goalscorer which is difficult to find and difficult to recruit. He had a good year last year but over the past few years as well and he’s been difficult for us to handle in games [against Brentford].”
Howe will also be without Jacob Ramsey with an ankle injury set to rule him out of action for around a month. Anthony Gordon will also miss out through suspension.