Lewis Hall of Newcastle United controls the ball whilst under pressure from Nico Serrano of Athletic Club during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Newcastle United FC and Athletic Club at St James' Park on November 05, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)placeholder image
Lewis Hall of Newcastle United controls the ball whilst under pressure from Nico Serrano of Athletic Club during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Newcastle United FC and Athletic Club at St James' Park on November 05, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Lewis Hall is back playing for Newcastle United ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash away to Brentford.
The 21-year-old picked up a hamstring injury last month having not long returned from five months out with a foot injury.
Following substitute appearances against Liverpool and Leeds United, Hall made his first start of the campaign in the goalless draw away to AFC Bournemouth and kept his place for the 4-1 Carabao Cup third round win over Bradford City a few days later.
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Fatigue then saw Hall miss the following game at home to Arsenal before appearing as a substitute in the 4-0 win away to Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League.
It was during that game in Brussels when Hall felt his hamstring. Newcastle initially feared Hall would be sidelined long-term but a second scan revealed much better news.
Lewis Hall makes Newcastle United return
Spending a single month out rather than several months out, Hall was named on the bench for Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham United but wasn’t risked.
But against Athletic last night, Eddie Howe felt it was the “right time” to introduce Hall, who came on for goalscorer Dan Burn in the 65th minute.
Asked about Hall’s comeback, Howe said: “Yeah, it was my plan to try and give him minutes. I can never make that guarantee, but it was in my mind to use him today. It was in my mind not to use him at West Ham because he'd only had one training session and he's worked so hard to get back. We don't want to lose him now, having done all the hard work.
“But it was the right time to introduce him. He played very well, I was really pleased with him. We still have to have a level of caution to how much he can play at the moment, but positive steps for him.
“He’s trying to find his rhythm again and all the pitch dimensions and the geography that he needs to produce his best performances.”
Eddie Howe has a tough decision coming up
Hall is set to be on the bench again this Sunday when Newcastle visit Brentford in the Premier League.
The two-capped England international will need a period to build up his fitness but once fully fit, Howe has a difficult decision to make at left-back.
Burn has moved from centre-back to left-back in the absence of Hall and Tino Livramento, which has allowed Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman to build a strong partnership at centre-half.
On the competition in the backline, Burn said: “I think it's something you have to ask the manager, but I think it's good now that we've got, especially those two lads coming back, because they are very big players for us, and we've got good quality in every position now, so I think the manager's spoiled this season, there'll probably be a lot more rotation this year.
“I think that's something that we've probably not leaned on as much in the past, we've always been quite a settled team, but now we have good quality in every single position, so we should be able to take players in and out without the standards of our performance being there.”
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