Eddie Howe shares when he thinks Nick Pope will return from injury for Newcastle

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Eddie Howe has now shared when thinks Newcastle United can expected Nick Pope to return from injury.

Newcastle have been without Pope since he injured his shoulder against Man United at the beginning of December, causing him to require surgery which would keep him out for a number of months.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup clash, Howe shared that Pope had started some gentle training but claimed it could be weeks until he’s back in contention with the squad.

Howe hoping to have Newcastle star back soon

Newcastle haven’t really looked like their usual selves under Howe for a while now, and if you look back at the fixtures you can pinpoint the moment things started to go downhill.

It was the first game after Pope’s injury when Martin Dubravka had to step up to replace the shot-stopper that really made Newcastle fans think they might be in trouble as Everton put three past them in a forgettable night on Merseyside.

Newcastle would then go on to ship four against Tottenham, be dumped out of the Champions League against AC Milan and exit the Carabao Cup on penalties against Chelsea.

There have been some decent performances in that time, the 3-0 against Sunderland and 3-1 against Aston Villa the most notable, but overall Newcastle have been way off of their game and Howe knows it.

On Pope, Howe said: “There’s no immediate update but he’s not on the verge of returning. He’s working his way back and is still very much gym-based. He has done a couple of sessions outside but they’re very, very gentle at this stage. I still think he’s a number of weeks away.”

Pope can’t come back soon enough for Newcastle

Before Pope suffered that injury, there were a lot of questions being asked about his ability to play with the ball at his feet, and rightly so, but people also forgot what it is he’s so good at.

There were even claims that Newcastle and Howe wouldn’t miss him that much as Dubravka is still a good enough shot-stopper, but now it’s become very clear that Pope brings a lot more to the team than just his shot-stopping skills.

Newcastle’s defence doesn’t exactly boast a lot of pace and it’s been exposed a number of times in the last few months, but Pope has covered that up by being one of the best sweeper keepers in the league.

So many times Sven Botman and Fabian Schar have had the former Burnley man to rely on when balls come over the top of the defence, but they don’t have that to count on with Dubravka in goal.

The Slovakian international has also been pretty poor at claiming crosses and being more dominant in the air for set-pieces, another thing that Pope is so good at yet the fans don’t necessarily realise it at the time.