It was a brilliant win at St James’ Park last night, where we beat Arsenal 1-0 thanks to a huge team effort, but it came at a cost as injuries and suspensions continue to pile up.
Jacob Murphy’s shoulder went again and Eddie Howe has confirmed that the winger WILL require surgery, which is likely to keep him out for the next three months.
Dan Burn was forced off at half-time after failing to shake off a back injury. Howe admits it’s “worrying for us”, as he’s “in a lot pain” and will know more tomorrow if it’s “more serious” than first anticipated.
Last but certainly not least, Bruno Guimaraes picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the second half, meaning he’s now suspended for next Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth, which Howe describes as a “massive blow” given our current injury/suspension list. Here’s what he had to say on all three after the game last night:
Howe on Jacob Murphy –“With Jacob, we always knew there was a chance that he could do his shoulder again, but he was prepared to take the risk. Unfortunately, we lost him during the game, and we will lose him now to an operation.
“Jacob came to see me, and we’ve had various discussions with the medical team. We felt that it was a risk putting him back on the pitch, but it was a risk that he was prepared to take and the medical team were prepared to take too.
“We were full in the knowledge that, potentially, he could do it again. When you have a dislocation, there’s a chance that you can dislocate again. It looks like he has, so he will definitely now need that operation. But there was also a chance that he could get through it and continue to be fit and play for us.
“It’s obviously a huge blow. Off the top of my head, I’m not completely sure how long he will be out for, but it’ll probably be around three months, I would think.”
Howe on Dan Burn –“Dan jumps for a ball, lands on his back, and he’s in a lot of pain at the moment. That looks worrying for us.
“He landed on his back going up for a header, and he has back pain. I think he’s potentially worried about it. We’ll wait and see, but I don’t think it’s the kind of normal thing where you wake up the next day and it’s gone. It could be more serious than that.”
Howe on Bruno Guimaraes’ one-game ban – “I need to see it (the yellow card) again. But my natural reaction was that wasn’t a booking and I thought there were a lot of needless yellow cards today which in our position is tough as we have very few players fit and available.
“We can’t pick up suspensions. So to lose Bruno in any game is a massive blow for us but we have to deal with it.”
