Karl Darlow injury update as Newcastle United fears are allayed

Marcus Rashford collides with Karl Darlow.

Karl Darlow was hurt in a collision with Marcus Rashford in Saturday night’s 4-1 defeat at St James’s Park – and head coach Steve Bruce feared that the Newcastle United goalkeeper was facing a spell on the sidelines.

Speaking after the game, Bruce said: “He’s taken a hell of a blow. We hope that he’s not too bad, but it’s one of those difficult ones to assess straight away. Until we see the scans and how he is, then we won’t really know, but it’s fair to say that he’s very sore.”

However, Darlow – who played on after the second-half collision – has suffered “no serious damage”, according to the Daily Mail.

The 30-year-old – who stopped a Bruno Fernandes penalty in the game – started the new Premier League season in goal after Martin Dubravka had an operation on his heel, Dubravka is now expected to be sidelined until late this year.

Bruce had hoped that Dubravka would be back in training this month, but the 31-year-old’s recovery is slower than expected.

“We see it had been it not as advanced as we thought,” said Bruce. “It’s slower than we would have liked. Let nature take it's course.”

Third-choice goalkeeper Mark Gillespie, signed as a free agent this summer, will play against Wolves at Molineux if Darlow doesn’t recover in time.

The 28-year-old – who left Scottish Premiership side Motherwell in the summer after his contract expired – has played in this season’s EFL Cup ties.