It has been a week to forget for Newcastle United after crashing out of the FA Cup, Anthony Gordon picking up a three-match ban, Lewis Hall being ruled out of the rest of the season and then rumours that Sven Botman could follow.
Sven Botman made his return from ACL surgery in January with fans hoping the 25-year-old's return would propel the Magpies into the Champions League spots.
However, the Dutchman's comeback has been anything but triumphant as he's made just three Premier League appearances plus two outings in the Carabao Cup.
Botman has been struggling with another knee issue, thankfully not on the knee that he had the surgery on last year, but it's still a concern.
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Sven Botman is set to be out for eight weeks
Despite fiercely rejecting the notion that his season was over yesterday, Eddie Howe has today told the media in his pre-match press conference that Botman will need an operation on his knee and is expected to be out for eight weeks.
"We've been trying to get him back to full fitness and he was actually very close for the Brighton game, just the day before one of the last actions in training, he felt the same problem in his knee.
"So that meant, again, just a sort of a resetting but we still hoped that he could come back. But then this week again he's got the same discomfort so looks like he'll now have to have an operation.
"This has come actually from a knock in one of his first games back. He didn't view it as a big issue but I think there's, without going into too much technically, he just needs a really small operation just to clear out some fluid.
"Then he'll be fine again."
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Sven Botman could still return to action this season
While eight weeks still gives Botman a chance to return to action before the end of the season, it's still a long absence and obviously, the key thing is that he, along with Gordon and Hall will be absent at Wembley.
Hopefully, this minor operation will see an end to the knee issues for Botman. He has potential to be a top defender, but his injury issues are a huge concern.
Sven Botman is now being compared to Jonathan Woodgate, and it's not hard to see why. Both had world-class potential but Ritz crackers in place of key body parts.