Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media this morning, taking a host of questions at the end of a pretty brutal week for Newcastle United.
After Sunday’s extra-time exit to Brighton in the FA Cup, which featured a three-game ban for Anthony Gordon and another home defeat, it was confirmed that both Lewis Hall (foot) and Sven Botman (knee) would both miss next week’s Carabao Cup final.
Both require surgery and Hall is out for the season, sadly, but Howe has offered a slightly more in-depth update on both today, also offering some good news on two other Mags who limped off last weekend.
Starting with Sven Botman, Howe revealed this morning that he was “very clos” to making the Brighton game but “felt a problem in his knee” the day before in training.
As a result, he’ll now have a “small operation” to clear some fluid from his knee and should be back playing again this season, with Howe expecting the Dutchman to be back in eight weeks time.
“He was very close for Brighton. The day before, in training, he felt a problem in his knee,” Howe said. “It now looks like he will need a small operation to clear out some fluid (on the opposite knee to ACL injury) then he’ll be fine again.”
On his potential return date, Howe added: “Eight weeks is the timeline, so that should give him time to play before end of season.” This would see Botman return at the start of May, meaning he could make the final three or four games of 2024/25.
Discussing Hall’s season-ending injury, Howe suggested the left-back had been managing an ankle issue leading up to the Liverpool game last week: “It was from the game [Liverpool away] but I I don’t necessarily think it was in that game,” he said.
“I think there was a slight build upon speaking to Lewis afterwards and trying to find out the sort of timeline of the injury – but that was the game where I think the feeling in his ankle had just got to the point where it needed investigating.
He played very well in the game, but he just had a bit of stiffness and swelling afterwards. So we investigated and obviously it’s landed at this point.”
On Hall’s loss and the disappointment of losing him to injury at this stage of the season, Howe added: Yeah, really disappointing for us.
“I’m devastated for him actually because he had so much to look forward to at this moment of the season with the cup final – which will be a big thing for all the players at the moment.
“Also the international experience coming up, and he was just in really good form as well and playing very well, so yeah, that’s a big blow for him and for us. The most important thing now is his recovery and making sure he comes back as good as he can.”
“He needs a small operation to clear out some fluid” 🏥
Eddie Howe confirms that Sven Botman will have an operation on his knee 🦵 pic.twitter.com/HcSQpuYMxP
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 7, 2025
Thankfully, despite nonsense rumours on social media suggesting he was also out, Alexander Isak is fine and ready to go.
Speaking to the media on the Swede’s groin issue, Howe confirmed that our star striker has trained all week and is “fine”, with last Sunday’s withdrawal purely fatigue related after feeling “tightness” late on.
“He’s fine. He came off (on Sunday) feeling fatigued, a tightness in his body, but he’s trained every day this week,” Howe said on Isak.
As for Kieran Trippier, who also came off against Brighton with a back complaint, Howe confirmed that he is also fine and should be available for our trip to West Ham on Monday.
On injuries in general, the boss added: “We’ve still got two more training sessions before Monday night’s game – at the moment that would be enough. Fingers crossed we can keep everyone else fit.”