The full-back has suffered with two different injuries during an ill-fated year but now hopes that 2026 will be better
Newcastle United's Lewis Hall
Newcastle United's Lewis Hall(Image: Getty Images)
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Lewis Hall admits he is still "hurt" after missing Newcastle United's big day out at Wembley after being sidelined by injury earlier this year.
The former Chelsea full-back walked out of Anfield after a 2-0 defeat against the Reds back in March almost unaware of what lay ahead of him after suffering what felt like an ankle knock. But within days, he had gone under the knife and been ruled out of the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
The full-back, who has suffered hamstring injuries this autumn to deny him more chances to impress, is now edging closer to regular first-team football. He will face the Republic of Ireland in England's Under-21 clash at Birmingham City tonight.
But looking back on the injury that wrecked the middle part of 2025, the youngster said: "Even now, although we've won – and I'm obviously buzzing that we've won, I've got my medal and everything, I've contributed – but, at the same time, it still hurts quite a lot seeing that and not being able to be there,
"I think it's made me mentally a lot stronger, which I think anyone who's injured would tell you the same,' the 21-year-old said.
"It's not easy. You go through phases throughout the rehab process where you'll have a couple of weeks where you're feeling good, positive, and then you'll have a couple of weeks where you feel like you're not making that much progress. I guess it's all just part of the process."
After ankle surgery in spring, Hall missed 125 days of action for Newcastle and did not return until the latter part of pre-season. Then against Union SG he went down with a hamtsring problem again.
He told the Daily Mail: "It was incredibly difficult. 'It was the worst part of my career so far.
"Obviously, I went through a season, when I first joined, where I didn't get as many minutes as I would have liked. I was working hard on the training pitch and stuff and I found that a bit frustrating - the first half of that season.
"But going through what I went through last season, the back end of it - I would have rather been in that situation again, almost, because I was just missing playing and stuff like that."
However, with a good run of fixtures now hopefully ahead of left-back Hall, he has other ambitions, not just to lift a trophy with Newcastle, but to get a place on the plane with Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad.
Hall said: "I've obviously had my taste of the senior camp before, so I know sort of how it felt to be there,' Hall said.
'It's definitely a big goal of mine [the World Cup], and it's something that I'd love to do.
'By the time the World Cup comes about I'll be 21, so, being able to go to a World Cup at 21 is obviously a big achievement in my eyes and it's something that I would be so proud of myself to do. Yeah, that's obviously a big aim for me."
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