Lewis Hall is continuing his recovery from a foot injury that sidelined him during the final few months of last season.
Before being injured in late-February, Hall was one of Newcastle United’s best and most consistent performers last season and a shoe-in to be nominated for the club’s end of season awards. However, he instead missed the last three months of action after being forced to undergo surgery on a foot injury.
Tino Livramento’s brilliant form towards the end of the campaign, supported by efforts from Kieran Trippier and Jacob Murphy on the other side of defence, ensured that Newcastle were still able to qualify for the Champions League in Hall’s absence. The former Chelsea man played briefly for the Magpies during their last European excursion, but will have a much bigger role to play when they return to the competition next season.
Before then, though, the Magpies must navigate pre-season and a tricky start to the campaign. They will hope that Hall can play a part in that and, according to an update released by the club, the left-back is well on his way to recovering from his injury issues.
Newcastle United offer major Lewis Hall injury update
In an interview with newcastleunited.com, Hall revealed that he was ‘progressing’ in his recovery and offered an insight into how he has gone about getting himself back up to fitness and running on the grass again: “It's just gradually progressing,” Hall said.
“I've just done 12 weeks non-weight bearing, which is obviously a long time, so to go from that to what I'm doing now is really good. With the amount of time I was hobbling about before, it takes a while to get used to again but I feel like I'm getting there now. It's just about building slowly.”
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.
He continued: "As soon as I was back here, got the cast off and the stitches out, I was straight in the (altitude) chamber, sitting down and getting my heart rate up with just my arms - every evening, my arms were dead! - and then slowly started to integrate using my feet and my legs again.
"Because I've been doing a lot of aerobic stuff in the chamber, what I'm doing now isn't going to cause me to fatigue. It's just about slowly, gradually, increasing the load. Now, mentally, it feels good to be outside.
“Some of the other lads are out doing pre-season programmes and whatever so it's good when I'm training and seeing them as well. It feels like I'm properly around it again.”
Whilst missing their end of season run-in, Hall also had to watch from home as his teammates lifted the Carabao Cup at Wembley. Coming just days after his surgery, Hall was unable to travel to the capital to celebrate with his teammates - something he now reflects on as one of the most difficult times of his rehabilitation.
"I played in all the games beforehand, and to miss that final; I was obviously buzzing for the club, for everyone, but to not be there to celebrate... it's not so much that I wasn't on the pitch, but to not be there to celebrate, that was probably the lowest point I've had in a long time,” Hall continued.
“I was sat at home watching. That was difficult."
Continue Reading