Ahead of Newcastle United’s trip to Stamford Bridge tomorrow, Eddie Howe has been speaking on the current injury crisis at the club and when players are expected back.
Elliot Anderson has been missing from the Newcastle team for the last few months now with a back injury, and it looks unlikely that we will see him in the near future.
In his press conference today, Howe confirmed that the 21-year-old had undergone a scan to reveal the extent of his injury and while it is healing, it is doing so slowly.
Anderson’s injury has come at the worst time
Anderson isn’t the most crucial player in Newcastle’s squad but he has been a handy option to have at times and had been steadily developing his game to become a better player for Howe.
The timing of this injury couldn’t have been worse for the young man who now looks to set to be behind Lewis Miley in the pecking order upon his return.
It’s nothing against Anderson’s ability, it’s just that Miley has been such an impressive talent for Newcastle over the last few weeks that he is almost becoming one of the first names in the team for Howe at the moment.
If it wasn’t for his age and the fact that he’s very early on in his development, Howe would probably like to play the 17-year-old more often, but that may work in Anderson’s favour.
In his press conference, Howe said: “Elliot’s been to see a specialist to get a review on where he stands. It’s a difficult injury for him because he’s not been able to do too much, it’s a stress fracture to the back.
“He’s had various scans to see if it’s healing and it is healing but it’s healing slowly as these injuries tend to do.
“The second opinion he had was the same which was a good thing although slightly frustrating in terms of time frame.”
Anderson still in search of first Newcastle goal
The midfielder is still in the hunt for his first ever Newcastle goal after being robbed of one in a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest last season.
Not only would netting his first be a huge moment for Anderson, Howe will be hoping that it can be a big confidence boost for the young man and hopefully help him to propel his Newcastle career forwards.
With Sean Longstaff and Miley doing well in the team currently, it would be great to say that there’s a third academy graduate excelling in the side after the club suffered years of neglect under the previous owner.
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