Injury blow for NUFC - in-form midfielder pulls out national squad after playing through the pain barrier
Another potential injury blow for Newcastle United today, with Christian Atsu now being forced to pull out of Ghana's crucial World Cup qualifier against Uganda on Saturday - with it being revealed that he has been playing through the pain barrier for club and country in recent weeks.
Fellow winger Matt Ritchie was forced to pull out of the Scotland squad soon after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Liverpool and now Atsu looks set to sit out of international duties over the coming week - a potential blow for NUFC, with both first team wingers currently struggling with injuries it seems.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/914582899407691776
According to reports in Ghana, Atsu sustained a calf injury in their previous game against Congo on September 1st and has been playing through the pain barrier ever since.
Doctors have advised the winger to rest after playing with this injury for over a month now, however this comes as a blow to Atsu, who was all set to captain his country for their crucial World Cup qualifying match this weekend.
The Ghanaian has looked a different player since making his loan move a permanent one over the summer and we can only hope that knocks to Ritchie and Atsu are only minor precautions.
If both recover in time for Southampton a week on Sunday than this might just have been a blessing for us, as they'll have both had a few much needed weeks off to rest going into it.
That's what you'd hope anyway, with the pair having played a key role in our sucess so far this season.
