Kieran Trippier in action for Newcastle United.placeholder image
Kieran Trippier in action for Newcastle United. | Getty Images
Kieran Trippier missed Newcastle United’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham United due to illness on Sunday.
The 35-year-old defender came off the bench in Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday but dropped out of the squad for the trip to the London Stadium due to illness.
Newcastle suffered a 3-1 defeat against West Ham after Jacob Murphy’s early opener was cancelled out by Lucas Paqueta, a Sven Botman own goal and a stoppage-time effort from Tomas Soucek.
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Newcastle United play four players at right-back in Kieran Trippier’s absence
Emil Krafth started his first Premier League match since September 2024 in Trippier’s absence at right-back but was substituted at half-time for Fabian Schar. Malick Thiaw then played at right-back for the start of the second half before Jacob Murphy switched into the position.
In the closing stages, Sandro Tonali briefly slotted into the role, but Newcastle were unable to find a route back into the game.
“Yeah, we were looking for a solution to try and make the team perform better in that position,” Howe said when asked about his changes at right-back.
“We knew going into the game it wouldn't be easy because Kieran's got such brilliant strengths that when he's missing, we miss them and he would have helped us but he wasn't here and we needed to find a different way.
“Of course, we're missing Tino [Livramento] as well, two big players. So, yeah, that's why I did what I did.”
Trippier is officially a doubt for Wednesday night’s Champions League match against Athletic Club at St James’ Park (8pm kick-off) with Howe unable to confirm whether he expects the defender to be back in contention for the match.
NUFC injury concerns ahead of Champions League clash
In addition to Trippier, Lewis Hall is still returning to full fitness after a month out with a hamstring issue.
Despite returning to the bench against West Ham, Hall didn’t get on the pitch and Howe claimed after the match that he only named the 21-year-old among the substitutes due to a lack of other senior players available.
Yoane Wissa is expected to be out for the match with a knee issue that has so far delayed his Newcastle debut since his £55million deadline day transfer from Brentford.
Tino Livramento is also set to miss the match due to a knee injury but both players are expected to return to action later this month.
Lower down the pecking order in Newcastle’s squad, full-back options Harrison Ashby and Alex Murphy are also unavailable due to injury. Ashby has also been left out of Newcastle’s Champions League squad and would be ineligible to feature regardless of his fitness.
Jamaal Lascelles, John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie are also not included in Newcastle’s Champions League squad list for the group phase. Newcastle will be looking to pick up a third successive win in the Champions League following a 4-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise and a 3-0 victory over Benfica.
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