Newcastle United hope to have Jamaal Lascelles back soon after he missed the 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day at St James’ Park.
The Magpies captain was forced to leave the game against Luton Town after only 37 minutes. Lascelles was left out of the matchday squad as Chris Wood’s hat-trick condemned United to their sixth defeat in seven games.
Sven Botman’s comeback could make it tough for Lascelles to regain his place in the starting XI, but the 30-year-old isn’t anticipated to be out for long. When asked if Lascelles’ injury was serious, Eddie Howe said, “No, we don’t think so.”
Although Lascelles’ injury isn’t serious, the centre-back is likely to miss the New Year’s Day trip to Liverpool after Howe stated that no injured players are expected to return.
United will be without nine first-team players, including Sandro Tonali, Nick Pope, Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock, Elliot Anderson, Javier Manquillo, and Matt Targett, in addition to Lascelles.
Those players that are available will be charged with turning the club’s fortunes around. United have dropped out of both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup in the last two weeks, dropping to ninth in the Premier League rankings.
“My gut feeling is always that the answer is within,” Howe added. I believe the players we have here are adequate. Of course, we’ve had injuries, and those players you see aren’t available… I don’t think anyone will return in the next few days.
“It was great to see Joelinton return today; he’s been a huge miss for us, and we still have players who are finding their fitness through match play, which is never ideal.” In that regard, there were several players on the field today.
“We’ve not had it easy and I think that needs to be acknowledged by me more than anyone else in my reflection of the team.”
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