Lewis Hall’s absence explained as Newcastle United defender misses out against Nottingham Forest

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Newcastle United take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, but will go into battle without defender Lewis Hall.

The Magpies enjoyed a strong Champions League win on Wednesday night, beating Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 away from home.

Newcastle must now take that performance into Sunday’s game against Nottingham Forest, as Eddie Howe seeks another victory.

Howe has kept the same Newcastle side from that win in Belgium, but Lewis Hall has not even made the bench.

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Lewis Hall’s Newcastle United absence explained

Tino Livramento is out injured, so Kieran Trippier keeps his place at right-back for Newcastle.

Dan Burn also continues at left-back, with fans left wondering about Lewis Hall’s situation.

Hall managed 17 minutes off the bench against USG, but has only started one Premier League game so far this season.

The 21-year-old has not even been named as a substitute against Forest, and he may now join Livramento on the sidelines.

The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope now reports that Hall has picked up a hamstring injury and has been sent for a scan.

A hamstring injury can keep a player on the sidelines for anywhere between a couple of weeks and a number of months, depending on the severity.

Having already lost a left-back option in Livramento, seeing Hall go down with an injury is a huge blow.

Hall missed a significant period of last season due to injury, and Newcastle will now hope for some positive news from this scan.

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Can Newcastle United sign a free agent defender?

Newcastle would certainly miss Hall if he were to be ruled out for any significant period of time, and some may wonder about a free agent signing to fill in.

The problem is that Newcastle have a full 25-man squad for the Premier League and therefore have no space for a free agent addition.

A player such as Takehiro Tomiyasu, who can play across the back four, could have made sense if Newcastle had room for another signing.

Unfortunately, that option is not available to Howe, and Newcastle will have to press on with the current squad until January.