Newcastle’s squad have been no strangers to the treatment table this stop-start campaign and Eddie Howe has been no stranger to answering questions on players’ returns from injury.
But the Toon boss was dealt a fresh blow in the last week after the confirmation that captain Jamaal Lascelles would require surgery on an anterior-cruciate ligament injury and would miss up to nine months. Lascelles is the second Magpies’ centre half to suffer an ACL injury this season, with Dutch defender Sven Botman also facing up to nine months out.
It has sparked questions among the fanbase over whether the club now needs to refocus its efforts in the summer transfer window to target another centre half. With Lascelles entering the twilight of his career, it would be useful to bring in someone who can challenge Schar and stake a claim as another of our defensive options. Depth is also an issue which was highlighted brutally by the mistake made by Toon veteran Paul Dummett which cost us the three points against a struggling Everton side.
So, what is the plan in the summer? Eddie Howe addressed these questions in recent comments to the press:
“When you’re missing players for that length of time, I think naturally that will impact what you’re doing,” said Howe. “You have to look at the situation you’re faced with.
“Good news is they miss quite a good chunk of the summer so we don’t think they’ll be too far into the season when they’ll be missing but they are still going to be missing a big chunk of that early part.
“Then of course, how quickly can they get back to their best form? Two players for us and big characters we’re certainly going to miss.”
It certainly sounds like both Lascelles and Botman remain part of Howe’s plans post-injury. But surely the club will be looking at resolving the Dan Ashworth shaped recruitment hole to make sure that our defence is not makeshift come the start of the next campaign in the summer.
