Sven Botman is set to end his nightmare injury spell before the end of the year, with a return fixture already pencilled in for the Dutchman.
The centre-back hasn’t played for nine months after going under the knife to fix a serious ACL injury, but returned to first-team training recently after completing a period of rehab.
It remains to be seen when the big man will be back in Eddie Howe’s XI as we enter a busy period of festive fixtures. However, a new report has revealed our plans to ease him back in via our Under-21 side.
Botman back in action next week?
According to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, Botman has been pencilled in to play for our Under-21s next Monday (16th December) in their Premier League 2 clash with Chelsea at Whitley Park.
Howe and the Newcastle coaching staff have recently used the Under-21s to help Matt Targett and Lewis Miley ease their way back into full fitness, so it seems this is a wise step to ease the former Lille star back to competitive action after such a long period on the sidelines.
It will be the 24-year-old’s first appearance in a black and white shirt since the FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester City back in March, where the giant defender appeared to aggravate a pre-existing knee issue that was handled so poorly by our medical team at the time.
Howe impressed by Botman in training
Speaking about Botman’s comeback last week, Howe revealed that the Dutch international has been “looking good” following his return to training.
Botman’s return, similar to Sandro Tonali’s earlier this season, will be met with much excitement. Quite simply the club’s best centre-back when fully fit, Botman could not have come back at a better time for a Magpies side who have shipped seven goals in our last two league games.
Can’t happen soon enough.
Joseph(Quote)
Welcome back Sven. It’s good to see a young player recover from such a serious injury. Add in his talent and We can only hope he’s pragmatically brought back into the first team and able to play at the levels he was showing pre-injury to boost a poorly performing team.
Jonesy(Quote)
It was such a serious injury and he’s been out such a long time that I think it’s going to take the best part of this season for him to be at his peak – if his injury hasn’t left lasting damage that is.
We have to be realistic in our expectations just coz he’s back.
Sharpy17(Quote)