The one thing Eddie Howe was hoping wouldn’t happen in the international break has unsurprisingly come to pass, as one of his players has picked up an injury.
The October international break is an important one as many nations’ World Cup qualifying campaigns reach a critical juncture, but it has come at a bad time for Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe was just seeing his new-look side click with exciting displays against Union SG and Nottingham Forest before the pause in action.
10 Newcastle stars are away with their countries this week and there have already been some great displays.
Bruno Guimaraes wowed with an amazing assist in Brazil’s win over South Korea, while Anthony Gordon earned praise for his display in England’s 3-0 friendly thrashing of Wales.
However, the international break brings injury concerns and Lewis Miley is the latest Newcastle star to pick up a knock.
Lewis Miley withdraws from England U21 squad
Miley had been selected by Lee Carsley to play in his Young Lions’ two important Euro U21 qualifiers against Moldova and Andorra.
However, the teenage midfielder has now pulled out of the squad with a calf problem.
Thankfully, as reported by Craig Hope, he has only done so as a precaution and isn’t expected to miss any Newcastle games.
Miley hopefully not facing any prolonged time on the sidelines will come as a great relief to Howe, who is already dealing with a severely depleted squad.
New signing Yoane Wissa is yet to kick a ball for the club, while Jacob Ramsey, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall are all sidelined.
Dan Burn has also broken his hand, but will be continuing to play through the injury.
Newcastle set for Yoane Wissa compensation from FIFA
Though it appears Miley won’t miss any games, Newcastle have learned all too well with Wissa that an initial promising prognosis can be wide of the mark.
After a near-spotless injury record while at Brentford, Wissa suffered a knee injury immediately after completing his £55m to Newcastle while on international duty with DR Congo in September.
What was initially supposed to be a six-week lay-off has now turned into a two-month one and he isn’t expected back until November.
As a result, Newcastle are now owed compensation from FIFA, reports Mail Online.
It’s reported that FIFA’s Club Protection Programme – an insurance scheme that covers clubs whose player suffers injury on international duty which rules them out of action for at least 28 days – will cover Wissa’s wages from October 7 until he returns to first-team training.
The programme covers clubs up to a maximum of around £6.5m over 365 days. Wissa’s wages shouldn’t need to be covered for that long.
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