'Doesn't look good' - Newcastle United suffer 'strange' injury blow v Man Utd - 12 out ahead of Everton

Nick Pope is facing a spell on the sidelines after being withdrawn in the closing stages of Newcastle United's 1-0 win over Manchester United at St James' Park.

Pope had enjoyed a straightforward evening between the sticks before he fell awkwardly diving for the ball in the latter stages of the match. The 31-year-old was forced off with Martin Dubravka coming on late on to see out the win.

And afterwards, head coach Eddie Howe confirmed the goalkeeper has dislocated his shoulder and 'it doesn't look good'. Jacob Murphy is currently out until early 2024 after having surgery on a dislocated shoulder and Pope will seek a specialist's opinion and be assessed further.

"That's the disappointment on the night, it looks like he's dislocated his shoulder," Howe revealed afterwards. "It's such a strange thing really, he would have made that dive thousands of times and it just looks like the arm has kept going.

"His shoulder has come out of joint so we're going to seek specialist opinion and see what happens but it doesn't look good."

When asked how long Pope is facing on the sidelines, Howe added: "Too early to say. He was in pain when the shoulder was out but that's been put back in and he's more comfortable now."

Pope's injury extends Newcastle's list of unavailable players to 12 amid a busy fixture schedule. The injury was the only negative in an otherwise very positive evening for Howe's side.

"That's one of our best performances of the season for me," he admitted. "We were very, very good on and off the ball. When you consider the week we've had, the games we've had."