Newcastle United hit by fresh injury blow after 33-game absence & Sandro Tonali return

Willock was making his first start for Newcastle since April and took just 18 seconds to find the net as he turned in from Alexander Isak’s parried effort. But the midfielder lasted less than 15 minutes on the pitch due to what appeared to be a thigh issue.

Willock initially went down and received treatment before playing on only to go down once again minutes later and be replaced by Bruno Guimaraes on the quarter-hour mark. It comes after Willock’s 2023-24 campaign was cut short due to a recurring Achilles injury.

The 25-year-old missed the majority of last season due to various injury issues. He was ruled out from May until October 2023 with a hamstring issue before an Achilles problem then prevented him from getting a run of games in the side.

Willock was ruled out of 33 matches for Newcastle last season due to injury with only the suspended Sandro Tonali and Matt Targett missing more. Newcastle’s match at Forest marked the return of Tonali to the side after a 10-month betting ban.

While it came as a boost to head coach Eddie Howe, losing Willock early on his undoubtedly a blow with a further update from The Magpies boss expected after the match.