Tino Livramento responds to Newcastle United worry as fresh injury concern spotted
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
Newcastle United latest news: Tino Livramento has responded to a potential injury concern following his side’s win over Manchester City.
Tino Livramento made his first Newcastle United start in almost two months on Saturday, putting in a tireless 90 minute effort as the Magpies defeated Manchester City at St James’ Park.
Livramento had spent the previous eight weeks on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury during his side’s defeat to Arsenal at St James’ Park at the end of September. His return to the starting XI on Saturday couldn’t have come at a better time for Eddie Howe after he suffered an unexpected blow when Kieran Trippier picked up a hamstring injury in training.
The former Spurs and Atletico Madrid man wasn’t named in Howe’s matchday squad, with Livramento slotting back into his natural right-back role having played on the other side of defence earlier this campaign. After he and his teammates celebrated their victory, Livramento spoke to members of the press pack at St James’ Park, sporting some large strapping on his leg.
Fears that he had suffered a possible fresh injury, though, were quickly quashed by the defender: “No, I'm alright,” Livramento responded when asked about the strapping.
“It's just football. I'm fine, I'm going to rest and recover and go again.”
As Sam Barrott blew the full-time whistle to signal the end of proceedings on Saturday night, Livramento and his teammates knew that they had just over 72 hours to recover before they return to action in Marseille. The Magpies have won three of their four Champions League matches so far this season and sit on the precipice of securing a points total that should be enough to guarantee their place in the knockout rounds for the first time in the club’s history.
Eddie Howe praises Tino Livramento
Livramento was one of a number of players to impress on Saturday evening as the Magpies kept quiet a very talented Manchester City side with an array of attacking talents. Howe may have been tempted to revert to a back-five for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s side, but instead opted for his preferred 4-3-3 system.
The Gazette has launched a new WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
The returns of Livramento and Lewis Hall to the starting XI certainly helped Newcastle execute their aggressive game plan to greater effect than they had managed during defeats against West Ham and Brentford before the international break. Whilst two players a successful football team does not make, having Hall and Livramento back and available was a major boost for Howe and one that the Magpies head coach referenced in his post-match press conference.
“The team is formed by individuals,” Howe explained. “The individuals create the team and they've all got different attributes. So, you saw today Lewis Hall's technical ability considered again the length of time that he's been out and he's one that hadn't trained with us.
“You got Tino who had stayed with us and had done a lot of hard work. I thought physically he looked unbelievable considering he's seven weeks out and a really high-level performance against a very dangerous opponent. So, I did think they both played really well.”