NUFC hit with 2 new injuries – 10 ruled out of Oxford, but key duo & 1 new signing set to play

Steve Bruce has confirmed Emil Krafth will be out for ‘six weeks’ after suffering ankle ligament damage in Tuesday night’s draw with Everton.

Elsewhere, the NUFC boss has also confirmed that Florian Lejeune will miss tomorrow’s game with a groin injury, while the FA Cup clash at St James’ Park will also come too soon for Andy Carroll.

NUFC new boy Nabil Bentaleb is set to make his debut, but the club have confirmed that Valentino Lazaro will NOT be available – with him set to feature against Norwich next weekend after missing the deadline to play tomorrow.

The game also looks set to come too soon Yedlin, Manquillo, Muto, Ki and Gayle, with Dummett and Willems also out after being sidelined for the season.

On the plus side, Allan Saint-Maximin looks set to return along with Jonjo Shelvey after the duo were rested in midweek.

Here’s what Steve Bruce has had to say on the injury front today:

“Emil, unfortunately, is going to miss the next six weeks.

“He battled on manly the other night but it was a bad challenge he came under and he has done his ankle ligaments.

“Florian Lejeune picked up a groin injury scoring the overhead kick.”

“Joelinton is fine. He got a kick on his ankle so we think he’s going to be OK. Saturday might be too quick for Andy Carroll but Saint-Maximin will be involved. It would have been too much to ask him to play twice last week so he will be in contention as well.”

“That two week break [after Norwich] is really important to us. We’ve still got too many carrying knocks and when they’re coming back the last thing you want to be doing is playing three games in a week. Fair play to the squad, they’ve stuck at it.”

Whether you rate him or not, it’s positive to hear Joelinton has shook off a knock from midweek, with him being our only fit striker while Carroll, Gayle and Muto remain out!

As for Krafth’s injury, it’s a good job we’ve brought in Lazaro (who can play at RWB) given Manquillo and Yedlin are still sidelined – although Hayden could well play at wing-back once again tomorrow.

Steve Bruce has vowed to play his strongest side, but a few U-23’s could make the bench, with Tom Allan appearing against Rochdale last time out.

That said, Liam Gibson and Kelland Watts are ineligible to play after featuring in the FA Cup for their loan clubs – and the same applies for Rolando Aarons, who’s back on Tyneside after a spell with Wycombe.

I can also see Schar returning tomorrow, with him being named on the bench in our last two games but making an impact late on at Everton.

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

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