Newcastle United rocked by fresh injury bombshell as striker ruled out for 'eight weeks'
Newcastle United injury news: Eddie Howe has provided an update on Yoane Wissa’s injury.
Yoane Wissa’s Newcastle United debut has been pushed back further following a fresh update from head coach Eddie Howe.
Howe was speaking ahead of Sunday’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest (2pm kick-off) at St James’ Park. The Magpies have won one of their opening six league matches this season but head into the game boosted by a big win on the continent.
Following Wednesday night’s 4-0 Champions League win against Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium, Howe provided a small update on Wissa’s situation.
Eddie Howe’s initial Yoane Wissa update
“I think we're still on track for where we were, which is after this international break coming up,” Howe said on Wednesday.
“He hasn't trained on the grass yet, so we haven't seen him as part of any team training. So, at the moment, that's the schedule, but we'll wait and see.”
But following further assessment of the knee injury picked up on international duty with DR Congo, Howe confirmed Wissa had suffered a setback in his recovery.
The 29-year-old joined Newcastle from Brentford for £55million on transfer deadline day before quickly joining up with the DR Congo national team for matches against South Sudan and Senegal. Despite scoring in both games, Wissa suffered a knee ligament injury that has ultimately blocked him from making his Newcastle debut.
The trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on October 18 was initially pencilled in as a potential return date for Wissa, but that has now been delayed, according to Howe.
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Eddie Howe confirms Yoane Wissa setback
Speaking on Friday morning, Howe provided a further update on the forward.
“Yeah, he went to see a specialist again [Thursday] just for a check-up on his knee, probably think it'll be more eight weeks than six, so maybe a slight delay, no reoccurrence, no problem, just maybe slightly longer.”
The delay of two weeks compared to the original prognosis gives Wissa a potential return date around the date of the West Ham United trip on November 2.
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Howe also teased that Jacob Ramsey could be back available following an ankle injury that has kept him out since August. The 24-year-old was substituted off after taking a knock in the 0-0 draw at Leeds United in what was his first start for the club.
Tino Livramento will be sidelined for the next eight weeks, while Lewis Hall is still working on his fitness after dropping out of the starting line-up for the last two matches.
Providing an update on his squad: “I think we're okay. Thinking off the top of my head yeah, I don't think there's any fresh injuries.
“[Livramento] went to see a specialist a couple of days ago because the scan initially looked better than we maybe initially thought it was and the specialist confirmed that yeah, it's an eight-week injury roughly.