Having safely seen Newcastle through to both the final of the Carabao Cup and fifth round of the FA Cup in back-to-back games, Eddie Howe now has a week to prepare for the first of three crunch Premier League fixtures.

With a trip to Manchester City on the horizon next Saturday, a number of players now face a race against time to be fit to make our match at the Etihad.

Burn the “big negative”

One of the big talking points coming out of Saturday’s game was the abrupt substitution of Dan Burn early on in the second half.

Burn made way for Fabian Schar in the 55th minute with a groin injury and the boss has admitted it’s the “big negative” from our 3-2 win at St Andrews.

Speaking after the game, Howe reflected on Burn’s injury and the physical nature of the FA Cup tie. “That (Burn’s injury) is the big negative of today. It looks like he’s picked up an injury to his groin. Fingers crossed it’s not too bad.

“It’s very unlike Dan to say that he needs to come off. We didn’t want to start any of the players from Wednesday but were forced to because of the numbers.”

It was a tough game for us. Mentally, physically – you could see a few players were on the edge today. We’re delighted to get through.”

Gordon and Botman updates

As many noticed, Anthony Gordon didn’t even make the bench at St Andrew’s, seeing Joe Willock and Will Osula start down either flank.

Addressing the winger’s injury status, Howe revealed that the England international was also suffering from a quad problem that saw him miss out on the squad.

“He’s got a slight injury. I think it’s only a small one but enough for him not to feel comfortable travelling today. So let’s wait and see.”

“We’ve treated the cups the same for the past few years. Everyone that’s fit will take. So he’s not here today, which means he’s obviously got a problem.”

Pushed as to whether Gordon would be fit for the trip to the Etihad, Howe added: “We hope so. We’ve treated the cups the same for the past few years. Everyone that’s fit we’ll take. So he’s not here today, which means he’s obviously got a problem.”

Gordon’s recent improvement in form, capped off with a great performance in scoring against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, only makes him an even bigger miss for Eddie Howe, who now faces a tough choice as to who can be trusted to start alongside Alexander Isak this month should Gordon not be 100% fit come Saturday.

As for Sven Botman, the centre-back also missed out after a knee injury in midweek that forced him off in the second half of Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Arsenal.

Howe admitted he “doesn’t know at this moment in time” if the Dutchman will be back for next Saturday’s trip to Man City, adding to our injury concerns.

Howe concerned by small squad

Just days after the closure of the transfer window, Newcastle finds themselves with a thin first team squad, just like back in early 2024.

Highlighting this, Howe expressed his concerns. “We have put a lot of big efforts in games, we are just picking up one or two injuries in games now which is a real concern for us, because we have such a small squad.

“We have Sven (Botman) missing, Anthony (Gordon) was feeling his quad so didn’t travel, Dan has done his groin, that is a big concern. Last season we had big numbers of players out and it disrupted us in the middle of the season.”

Injuries blighted our 2023/24 campaign, and ultimately caused the Mags to miss out on European football where it may have helped them finish above the likes of Chelsea and Aston Villa in the table.

With the likes of Lloyd Kelly and Miguel Almiron departing Tyneside in January, any more injuries in the heart of the defence or out wide could prove catastrophic for Howe and co.