Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has admitted that it has been ‘very difficult’ to cope with the number of injuries to his players this season. The Magpies have been short on numbers for much of the campaign, with the likes of Callum Wilson, Kieran Tripper, Tino Livramento and Miguel Almiron having been sidelined in recent weeks.
Newcastle will be missing a number of key players when they face Fulham at Craven Cottage this weekend, leaving Howe to work with a stretched squad once again. Quizzed on the club’s injury crisis in Friday’s press conference, he admitted that it has been tricky to deal with the sheer amount of setbacks his players have been dealt.
“The difficult thing is when you’re stretched and you lose a couple, you become even more stretched,” he said. “When you come to a tipping point it’s difficult to control because you can’t rest and rotate, you don’t have the flexibility to protect players. We’ve been in that situation for months. When you get injuries in the same position it’s very difficult.”
Howe went on to offer updates on several players, with the recent injuries to Livramento and Almiron not proving to be as serious as initially feared.
“Tino’s was quite obvious when you look back at the footage, the ball has just hit his ankle before he’s planted and twisted it to an uncomfortable angle,” explained Howe. Thankfully it’s not as serious as it could have been and we anticipate he will be back quickly. Miggy has just tweaked his knee but it’s enough to keep him out for a few weeks.”
Asked for an update on Wilson, who has been out since February with a muscle problem, Howe added: “Callum is looking good, doing the hard yards and running hard. It’s an upper limb injury so he’s able to keep fit and rebuild his strength. We anticipate when he comes back he will be looking good.”
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