Newcastle United injuries: Dan Burn returned to the bench after six weeks out injured for Newcastle.
The 33-year-old suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung in Newcastle’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland last month but returned to training in the week leading up to the Villa match at St James’ Park.
But Burn remained on the bench as The Magpies fell to a 2-0 defeat against The Villans with goals from Emi Buendia and Ollie Watkins. It was Newcastle’s first Premier League defeat at St James’ Park since September.
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Eddie Howe’s ‘new signing’ claim
Eddie Howe admitted Burn’s return would be like a ‘new signing’ for Newcastle during the winter transfer window, a comment that received a mixed response from supporters, given the lack of new additions.
“Dan's return, with being so light in that position, is a huge lift,” Howe said. “If we can keep him fit and feeling good, he will be like a new signing.”
Dan Burn reflects on Newcastle United return after ‘scariest’ injury
Burn admitted he should be ‘ready to go’ for Newcastle’s upcoming matches against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday night and away to Liverpool on Saturday.
A trip to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg next Wednesday follows the trip to Anfield and wraps up a busy week of difficult away games for The Magpies.
“It was good to be back with the lads this week in training and hopefully I'll build up contact training so I should be able to be ready to go for the upcoming games,” Burn said in the Newcastle matchday programme.
“I'm feeling a lot better now after the injury was rough the first couple of weeks, but I can do pretty much everything now.
“I've had trauma injuries before and I can handle a fair bit of pain, but this one was probably the scariest, most painful I've had.
“I needed to be safe and sensible with the recovery. The lads have been doing well in my absence with some really good results and some exciting games.
“It's been nice to sit and watch and get excited about the games even if I was getting really itchy feet not being there.
“But sometimes, being an older, more experienced player, if you're not there, it allows some of the younger players to step up and have that leadership role for a bit.”
Newcastle’s defensive injury issues over the past month or so has seen 19-year-old midfielder Lewis Miley slot in and perform at right-back and centre-back when required.
But having trained with the youngster for the past few seasons, Burn had no doubts over Miley’s ability to adapt to his new role.
“I was never worried about Lewis Miley stepping into defence,” Burn admitted. “He's so calm and collected, even when he was 16 years old coming in, getting moved around positions in training.
“We knew how good a player he was and I'm really happy for him.”
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