Eddie Howe has given worrying injury update which Newcastle desperately need to recover from

Add as preferred source on Google

Injuries plagued Newcastle United during the 2023/24 season, and they played a major role in the Magpies not achieving their goals.

While excuses should be not made, Newcastle United fans will wonder what might have happened last season if they had not endured so many fitness problems.

The amount of high calibre fixtures also played its part, as Eddie Howe’s players were asked to face elite opposition pretty much every three days. There was a period in which Howe barely felt he could make a substitution, with the same 10 outfield players being sent out game after game.

With fewer fixtures, the hope is that the Newcastle United squad will not be as stretched during the 2024/25 campaign.

However, Eddie Howe has admitted that the club are still suffering from an injury ‘hangover’.

What Eddie Howe has said about Newcastle’s injuries

Newcastle rounded off their trip to Adidas HQ with a behind closed doors friendly against SpVgg Unterhaching. Howe’s side won 3-1, with Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes getting on the scoresheet.

Some big names featured in the first half, but the bigger headline came from the players who were not involved.

Sandro Tonali was not allowed to play, while others did not because of injury. Joe Willock and Tino Livramento did not feature, nor did summer signing Lloyd Kelly.

On his side’s injuries, Howe told Newcastle World after the friendly win: “Joe Willock is fine, he’s working back. We do have a hangover of injuries from last year. Tino Livramento is still working his way back, Lloyd Kelly we’re just being protective over but he’s fit and fine. Matt Targett, Joe Willock, they are still working their way back to fitness and they haven’t started with the group from pre-season. Lewis Miley got injured, not with us but while doing some off season work.”

Newcastle continue to suffer as 2024/25 season looms

Willock, Livramento and Kelly were all with the group in Germany, but were not deemed fit enough to feature in the friendly win.

On top of that, Callum Wilson left the camp with a back injury, while Lewis Miley, Matt Targett, Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles were not present at all as they continue their own recoveries.

As Howe says, Newcastle are very much experiencing an injury hangover. The hope was that the fitness problems that plagued us last season would have gone away by now, but that has not proven to be the case.

But they need to go away quickly, as Newcastle prepare for their first proper friendly against Hull City on Saturday. The Magpies have less than four weeks to go until the new Premier League season begins, and they can ill afford to go into it with multiple key players missing.

It is extremely worrying that Willock and Livramento are still not ready to feature, and it is also a concern that new recruit Kelly already needs to be protected.

Hopefully they are all able to feature against Hull on Saturday, before Newcastle jet off to Japan.