Third Newcastle United player may be ruled out for Carabao Cup final v Liverpool after injury scan
Newcastle United defender Lewis Hall missed Sunday’s 2-1 FA Cup fifth round defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park due to injury.
Hall missed the match with an ankle injury picked up during Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool last Wednesday. Tino Livramento started the Brighton match in place of the 20-year-old as The Magpies exited the FA Cup.
Alexander Isak’s penalty was cancelled out by strikes from Yankuba Minteh and Danny Welbeck to send Brighton through to the quarter-final. Newcastle also had two goals ruled out for offside - one scored by Isak and another by Fabian Schar in stoppage time.
Both teams finished 90 minutes with 10 men following red cards for Anthony Gordon and Tariq Lampety.
After the match, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was quizzed about Hall’s injury absence.
The Newcastle boss said: “Yeah, an ankle problem after the Liverpool game.
“He didn't really recover well, he felt a pain, so he's been to see a specialist, he had a scan, now he's been to see a specialist and we're awaiting further news.”
The most concerning thing about Hall’s absence was the fact that Howe wasn’t able to provide a timeframe for his return ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on March 16.
“No [return date] not at the moment,” Howe said.
The Magpies will be hoping for some positive news regarding Hall within the next fortnight or else they will be without another key player for the Carabao Cup final.
Two Newcastle United players already ruled out for Carabao Cup final v Liverpool
Gordon’s straight red card against Brighton means he is set to be suspended for the Carabao Cup final as well as the upcoming Premier League matches against West Ham United and Brentford.
Club captain Jamaal Lascelles is also out until the back end of the season as he continues to recover from an ACL injury. The defender has suffered ‘a couple of setbacks’ in his recovery and is set to miss the trip to Wembley.
Hall is also a doubt for the trip until further details are given following a specialist assessment.
Sven Botman hasn’t been seen for Newcastle since going off injured in the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Arsenal almost a month ago. But Howe suggested the defender was ‘close’ to returning against Brighton and still expects him to be back available in time for the Liverpool clash.
Kieran Trippier and Alexander Isak went off in the match against Brighton while Tino Livramento was also struggling in extra-time.
Explaining the issues, Howe said: “I think it was cramp more than an injury, so I think he was limited.
“Alex just felt a bit of general tightness, I don't think an injury, but just general tightness, felt he had to come off. Kieran felt his back, so there was navigating a lot of problems through that game, which we hope don't have long-term consequences for us because we've got such a small squad.”
Newcastle now have over a week until they return to action away at West Ham on March 10 (8pm kick-off). Then they face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final six days later on March 16 (4:30pm kick-off).