· December 13 2024, 09:40
Newcastle United's injury woes are steadily increasing after losing Callum Wilson for two months it now seems that Eddie Howe will have a big call to make in the game against Leicester.
On Thursday evening, the bearer of bad news that is Craig Hope took to social media to report on an injury problem with £10 million former Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope.
It seems that the 32-year-old picked up a knock in the game against Brentford and hasn't managed to shake it off and is now a doubt for the game on Saturday.
Fortunately, Newcastle have plenty of goalkeepers on their books so it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
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It seems the perfect time to give Odyssas Vlachodimos a shot
We'd recently floated the idea of giving Odysseas Vlachodimos a shot between the sticks and now Howe may be forced into that change.
Although, should Pope not make it, we're sure Howe will turn to Martin Dubravka instead because God forbid he should try anything different.
Nick Pope hasn't exactly been a rock this season despite his shot-stopping stats being among the highest in the league, it's his footwork and handling that are huge concerns and we already know that Dubravka isn't any better. Surely it's time to see what reluctantly forking out £20 million gets you.
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Nick Pope will see a specialist today
In an update this morning, Eddie Howe has confirmed that Pope will see a specialist today ahead of making a decision on whether or not he can play tomorrow.
If it's that close, we'd suggest using one of the 30 other goalkeepers we have for this game and make sure Pope is right before we throw him back in the starting XI.
When your 'keeper is already struggling with the basics the last thing he needs is to add worry over whether his knee will hold out.