Newcastle United surprise injury scan results & surgery update as key man facing six months out

Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles is ‘staying positive’ despite suffering a season-ending ACL injury last month.

Despite initially playing on, Lascelles limped off during the 4-3 win over West Ham United and was subsequently ruled out for between six and nine months with a ruptured ACL in his knee. It followed Sven Botman’s ACL injury that was confirmed just a week earlier.

Reflecting on his injury, Lascelles said: “Unfortunately I suffered an ACL injury in our win here against West Ham a couple of weeks ago, but I'm staying positive.

“Of course it was difficult to take initially but pretty quickly I came to terms with the situation. I've always been quite an upbeat person; the only thing I know is to pick yourself up and get on with it, so that's where I'm at now.

“I've got a long journey ahead of me but I have a great support team around me, fantastic physios and plenty of help from within the club, so I know I'm in good hands. For the first 20 seconds after going down, I felt pain but after that, it more or less went and I thought maybe it was just a bone-on-bone impact injury.

“I got up, had a little job and it didn't feel too bad. I didn't feel it pop or anything like that - but when I went back on, I knew something wasn't right.”

Lascelles admitted he was surprised that his injury ended up being serious once following scan results on his knee. He has since undergone surgery which has been a success and is on course to return to action in late 2024.

 “I genuinely didn't expect it to be anything like and ACL, though until the scan confirmed the full extent of the injury,” he said in his Newcastle programme notes. “Clearly that was hard news to receive, but it's just part of being an athlete.

“The operation went really well and I'm up and about, weight-bearing and looking to get off crutches and start work in the gym very soon. To everyone who's messaged me - and even people who haven't - I hugely appreciate all the love and support and I can't wait to get back next season.”