Eddie Howe has revealed that Elliot Anderson is the latest Newcastle midfielder to be sidelined, confirming the youngster has picked up a calf problem.
After starting in our FA Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and making the bench against Leicester, he wasn’t involved in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Fulham.
This comes after Bruno Guimaraes exited the field in tears midway through yesterday’s game with a twisted ankle. He’ll have a scan in the coming days, but the early signs don’t look positive as he left St James’ Park on crutches.
With both issues in mind, it seems essential the club make a January move for a midfielder – even on loan – with Howe admitting we were already light in this area of the field following a recent injury to Jonjo Shelvey that is expected to keep him out at least another month.
Here’s what Howe had to say after the game when asked if our midfield woes could see us dip into the transfer market:
“I’ll assess the injury, but we are light in midfield, there’s no doubt about that.
“We’re now missing Elliot (Anderson) as well, who’s another player who can play there, with what we think is a minor calf problem.
“We’ll get a diagnosis on Bruno’s injury and then make a decision.”
Howe was then asked if he regrets keeping Bruno on the pitch until half time, something he regrets in hindsight despite leaving it with the brave Brazilian:
“Should he have come off a bit earlier? Yeah, probably, with hindsight.
“But the player wanted to stay on and I always tend to go with the player as long as it’s not a concussion. The players know how difficult the Premier League is, and they know their bodies better than I do.
“He was probably limping for five minutes or so at the end of that first half, but it’s always a difficult one, right on half-time, to make a change. You like to try to do that in the calm of half-time to make a proper decision. He played very well in the first half, despite the injury.”
