Third Newcastle United defender ruled out v Arsenal as £80m duo face late fitness call

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Newcastle United are set to be without at least six first team players for the Carabao Cup semi-final visit to Arsenal on Tuesday (8pm kick-off).

Newcastle will be without Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar due to suspension while Nick Pope (knee), Callum Wilson (hamstring) and Jamaal Lascelles (ACL) remain sidelined due to injury. Last month, head coach Eddie Howe claimed Emil Krafth ‘could be available’ for the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal after suffering a broken collar bone back in November.

But now it appears the match could come too soon for the 30-year-old.

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Speaking ahead of the Arsenal match, Howe said: “[Krafth] is getting closer. Krafthy has done a lot of work.

“The type of injury that he had meant that he could run quite early. He could do everything other than the sort of the physical contact so yeah, he's super fit but we just need the bone to heal before he can take that contact again.”

Howe withdrew Anthony Gordon and Sven Botman in the closing stages of Saturday’s 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur. Gordon was left with a bloody nose after clashing with Dejan Kulusevski while Botman went down with cramp in stoppage time on his first game back after nine months out with an ACL injury.

Both players are set to be in contention to make the journey to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.

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“[Botman] feels good, naturally a little bit of fatigue at the end of the game,” Howe said. “Yes, it was a long absence but he’d trained a long time for this moment.

Sven Botman in action for Newcastle United at Spurs. Sven Botman in action for Newcastle United at Spurs.
Sven Botman in action for Newcastle United at Spurs. | Getty Images

“From the Aston Villa game onwards he was cleared to play but we wanted to give him longer to try reach his best physical levels, so it’s not like he’s been rushed back. But straight into action and he did really well and I’m really pleased with him.

“We have to speak to the player, speak to the medical team and the experts that will give me some of the answers to what we do with him next.”

On Gordon, Howe added: “Anthony was in a bit of discomfort, only with the cut which was a nasty looking one. Looking back at the decision, I thought that it was a foul, a clear penalty, and he came away from that incident with blood on himself.

“We dusted him off and got him back on the pitch and he performed really well for us, I thought he had a really good game. We’ll see how he is.”

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