In an otherwise positive night, one big worry from our win at Spurs saw Bruno Guimaraes limp off with a hamstring injury.
Eddie Howe revealed on Friday morning that the club were still waiting to find out the full extent of that issue, and reports late last night have now confirmed the bad news.
As revealed by ESPN Brasil and Fabrizio Romano, it’s believed Bruno will be absent for the next eight to 10 weeks, handing Newcastle an enormous blow ahead of a busy run of fixtures in the league, cup and Champions League.
Romano claims that the midfielder has already been ruled out of Brazil’s fixtures in March’s international break, although The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has offered a slightly less damaging update, claiming Newcastle are hoping to have him back in more like six to seven weeks.
Either way, it’s a gigantic blow, as Bruno will not only miss our FA Cup trip to Aston Villa and Champions League play-offs legs against Qarabag, but also Premier League games against Man City, Everton, Man Utd, Chelsea and Sunderland.
Newcastle haven’t won any of their last 10 league games without Bruno, picking up five points from a possible 30 in that time.
That, sadly, speaks volumes about his importance to this side, but we simply must find solutions without our captain, who brings fight, leadership, goals and creativity to the side.
Hopefully Lewis Miley and Joelinton will be back soon, and it also feels vital that we get Sandro Tonali back to his best, with Jacob Ramsey and Joe Willock also under pressure to keep performing after impressing at Spurs on Tuesday.