Newcastle United injury setback confirmed after £31m star ruled out for three matches

Tino Livramento was an unused substitute as Newcastle United lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace on Tuesday night.

Eddie Howe named an unchanged line-up from the side that beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 in Newcastle’s previous match with Livramento remaining on the bench. The 21-year-old missed three matches for United after picking up an ankle injury in the defeat at Chelsea last month but returned off the bench in the closing stages of the win against Spurs.

But now head coach Eddie Howe has claimed that he named Livramento as an ‘emergency’ substitute at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night.

“It’s a difficult period for us because we still have players that aren’t 100% fit,” Howe claimed. “We had a very, very small training group in between games and that limits your options really.

“Tino Livramento is still struggling with his ankle, hence why he didn’t come on the pitch. He was there really for an emergency so we’ve been training with 12-13 players in the last 10 days.”

Next up for Newcastle is Sheffield United at St James’ Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off). When asked if Livramento could get on the pitch in the match, Howe told The Gazette: “Well, I’m not sure. We certainly don’t want to give him a longer-term problem.

“He’s technically fit enough to enter the pitch but sort of high risk, and we want to make sure we don’t give him a longer-term problem. But it all depends on what players I have available.”

Newcastle currently have Joelinton, Kieran Trippier, Miguel Almiron and Nick Pope pushing to return from injury before the end of the season.