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Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope has been ruled out until 2025 after seeing a specialist for his knee injury.
Pope picked up a knee injury during the 4-2 defeat at Brentford last weekend and missed training in the build-up to Saturday’s match against Leicester City (3pm kick-off).
Ahead of the match, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said about Pope: “He's carried a knee injury this week. Initially, we thought it was nothing but we're seeking some specialist opinion today and we'll see how he is.”
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It is now understood that Pope has sustained ligament damage to his knee and will be unavailable for around a month. The 32-year-old is expected to miss Newcastle’s next seven matches, including big games against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Fortunately for Howe, Newcastle are well-stocked in the goalkeeping department with four other goalkeepers part of the 25-man Premier League squad. Martin Dubravka is likely to come into the side in Pope’s absence, as he did last season when Pope was ruled out for 25 matches with a dislocated shoulder.
Summer signings Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy are also options for Howe to consider with Mark Gillespie as the fifth-choice goalkeeper.
”We have a very strong unit,” Howe said. “A very good, experienced team of goalkeepers behind Nick which is a great thing for us to utilise. So let's see what happens with Nick.”
Pope’s injury comes after Newcastle conceded seven goals in the space of two matches having only conceded seven in their previous nine games before that.
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