Newcastle United stars facing further injury woe as Eddie Howe urges caution

Eddie Howe has confirmed that Kieran Trippier has not suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf injury, but has admitted his recovery is taking longer than first anticipated. Trippier was substituted during their win against Wolves in early March and hasn’t featured for the Magpies since, despite turning up at St James’ park ahead of their clash against West Ham last Saturday.

On the Three Lions defender, Howe said: “No, he hasn't had a setback. With Kieran, he had a calf problem that initially, look, I always try and give you honest feedback on scan results and timeframes, but those timeframes, especially early in the injury, are just that. They're an estimate of what the injury will be.

“Now some injuries, I'm sure people will be frustrated that the manager said it'd be four weeks, but it's ended up being six, seven or eight, but that's just the nature of medicine and science. So Kieran will be a little bit longer than we anticipated he would be, purely from the fact he's had no setback but the injury is just taking long than we first thought. He's had rescans and he's been to see different people and we feel this is the best thing for him.”

Trippier’s return to fitness will not only benefit Newcastle United between now and the end of the season, but also England and his hopes of being included in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad. Nick Pope will also be hoping he can return to the first-team before the end of the campaign and do enough to land himself a seat on the plane to Germany.

Pope hasn’t featured since dislocating his shoulder against Manchester United back in early-December and an initial time frame had him returning to the team around April. However, Pope’s return still remains a couple of weeks away and Howe, like Trippier, is keen to ensure the club get his recovery right, rather than rush him back too quickly. Howe said: "We're still hoping that it'll be the end of April initially again, but similar to Kieran we'll take the time needed to try and get him right. If that's a bit longer, that's a bit longer, if it's shorter than great. 

“He's out on the training pitch, he's not training with us yet, he's making the early stages in terms of diving and getting a feel for goalkeeping again. But it is early stages and we've got to make sure that we don't put him at risk."

Pope and Trippier join an exhaustive injury list that includes players like Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles who have no chance of featuring again this season. Tino Livramento, Miguel Almiron, Lewis Miley, Joelinton, Callum Wilson and Matt Targett could all feature before the season concludes, but they, along with Pope and Trippier, will certainly miss their next few games.

A win against the Cottagers could move Newcastle United into 7th place depending on how West Ham do in their clash against Wolves which kicks-off at the same time.