Eddie Howe confirms ‘desperate’ Newcastle United could get injury boost imminently

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Good news is relatively hard to find for Newcastle United right now.

Though the small matter of another Carabao Cup final cannot be overlooked, Newcastle United are stuttering.

Eddie Howe’s side are in relatively poor form in the Premier League and are now out of the FA Cup after Brighton beat Newcastle 2-1 on Sunday.

Anthony Gordon will miss the Carabao Cup final after he was sent off against the Seagulls, while there were injury worries aplenty for the Newcastle United manager to consider.

Alexander Isak was taken off with what Howe has confirmed was “tightness”. Lewis Hall is due to see a specialist following an ankle injury. Kieran Trippier “felt his back” before coming off against Brighton and Tino Livramento was suffering with cramp towards the end of the game.

Overall, things aren’t looking very good on the injury front ahead of the trip to Wembley.

Still, there is slightly more positive news when it comes to Sven Botman.

Newcastle United get major injury boost before Carabao Cup final

The defender has missed the last few games with a knee problem, though it isn’t thought to be related to the serious issue he suffered last season.

Botman returned to training before the Brighton game but did not make the squad, although there is hope the Dutchman will soon be back in action.

Howe confirmed Botman was close to a return, with the team “desperate” to have him back this season.

“Sven was close, but he did light training and didn’t feel 100 per cent confident in his body,” he said.

“So, we decided not to risk him. We still hope that he can play a part either in our next game or the game after. We’re desperate to get him back fit because he’s such a big player, but we couldn’t take the risk with him if he wasn’t 100 per cent fit.”

Sven Botman could be game changing for Newcastle United in Carabao Cup final

While Fabian Schar and Dan Burn have both been excellent players for Newcastle, there is little doubt they lack pace – as a certain Yankuba Minteh exposed on Sunday.

The Dutchman, meanwhile, certainly provides that. Though having him back for Wembley obviously doesn’t mean Newcastle will win, it would surely give them a much better chance against a fearsome Liverpool attack.

Botman impressed against Arsenal in the semi-finals, which is arguably the last time Newcastle played well this season.

Let’s hope he returns against Liverpool…