Nick Pope’s absence adds to Newcastle United’s injury crisis, but in the upcoming weeks, the cavalry might arrive.
While Newcastle United’s injury crisis persists, Eddie Howe and his team have received some encouraging news this week. After being substituted late in the match against Manchester United due to a minor hip issue, Anthony Gordon has trained with his teammates and is eager to rejoin Everton.
According to Chronicle Live, Callum Wilson is getting closer to joining the first team, and the current status of Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock’s injuries isn’t too bad. But none of the other absentees are coming back for this week’s trip to Goodison Park.
Howe told reporters on Wednesday morning, “We hope to have players back [soon].” “No one is back training with the group at the moment but there are a few that are close.”
Wednesday brought the bad news about Nick Pope that Newcastle supporters had been waiting for: according to Howe, the goalkeeper will require surgery to realign his dislocated shoulder. This probably means Martin Dubravka will take over for the former Burnley player until March or April.
Pope suffered a dislocated shoulder while playing for Burnley, which caused him to miss four and a half months of action. Howe has confirmed that, despite a slightly different kind of injury, the injured shoulder is the same one.
“The surgery hasn’t happened yet, but we anticipate it will take about four months. This is a major setback for us, but we anticipated it as soon as you saw the dislocation following the game. Howe told reporters, “We were bracing for the worst.”
“I believe he was playing at his best level since joining the football team. Given that we’re in a phase where there are a lot of games left, including some really big ones, he’s naturally depressed. He still has the opportunity to compete in the Euros, which he was determined to try to participate in.”
There’s hope that Harvey Barnes and Sven Botman will make their comebacks before the end of the month, but characters like Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy won’t be back until at least January.
