Sven Botman, Joelinton and Jamaal Lascelles injury latest ahead of NUFC vs Nottingham Forest

NewcastleWorld

Jordan Cronin attended Eddie Howe's pre-Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest press conference. Here Jordan discusses the main talking points.

Transcript

00:00I'm here at Newcastle United media centre. I've just been speaking to Eddie Howe ahead

00:05of Sunday's massive Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest at St James' Park. I'm in

00:10the dugout here outside at Whitley Park because it's a little windy on Tyneside this morning

00:16so I've retreated in here so you can hear what I've got to say if you are interested

00:20about that. But yeah, Eddie Howe spoke about injuries, returning players and just how big

00:25of a game it is on Sunday as I mentioned there. Massive one for Newcastle United. But

00:30we'll start on the injury front and the injury I suspect you all want to know about is Sven

00:35Bottman. Sven Bottman picked up a knee injury in the Carabao Cup win over Nottingham Forest.

00:41He's since missed the last two games against Birmingham City and Manchester City. Eddie

00:45Howe suggested last week that he might be back for this one on Sunday but that isn't

00:49the case or in a remarkable recovery Eddie Howe said over the weekend. So Eddie Howe played

00:55down for you as Sven Bottman had sustained a long-term knee injury. The issue he's got

00:59is actually in the opposite knee to the one that he did against AC Allen last season.

01:04So yeah, another week required for Sven Bottman. We'll see if he will be back. I think it'll

01:10be the Brighton game now next week because they play Liverpool in midweek. Based on what

01:14Eddie Howe said, I don't think Sven Bottman will be back for that one. But yeah, Brighton

01:18will be reassessed. So yeah, it's a blow not having Sven Bottman because it gives you that

01:23flexibility to play those three centre-backs which Eddie Howe tried to do at Manchester

01:28City out of possession on Saturday. But of course, that didn't quite work. Can you check

01:33that dropping as the third centre-back isolated for the goal. But yeah, can Sven Bottman there

01:37gives you three proper three centre-halves and we've seen how effective that was against

01:41Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. But yeah, it's Sven Bottman's absence doesn't really allow

01:45Eddie Howe to do that. And yeah, you might have to go or stick with the three in midfield

01:52which he's done quite a lot of his time at Newcastle. But Joe Linton's injury is an issue

02:00in that midfield because usually it would be Joe Linton, Tonali, Bruno, but of course

02:04Joe Linton still ruled out with a knee injury. He's progressing well but again, similar to

02:11Sven Bottman, I'd imagine he'll hopefully be back for the Brighton game, their game

02:16on Sunday and then their game against Liverpool. It's too soon for the Brazilian but he is

02:20progressing well and yeah, in that centre midfield, who do you bring in? Because Joe

02:27Willock got the nod against Manchester City last week but then was brought off at half-time

02:33because Newcastle just didn't have any kind of control in that game and City were dominating

02:37Newcastle. Lewis Miley came on and gave Newcastle some real control. I know Manchester City

02:42took the foot off the gas but Lewis Miley's performance was a real positive from that

02:48game and a game that was full of very few positives and I do wonder if this is the game

02:52where Lewis Miley is reintroduced back into the start 11 because the last Premier League start

02:58was 12 months ago now. Obviously in that time, he picked up a back injury. He'd also picked up

03:04a broken metatarsal in the off-season as well. But since, from about October onwards, he

03:09obviously returned, played a couple of minutes in the Carbide Cup win over Chelsea, was then

03:14played on this pitch behind me here at Whitley Park to get minutes in the under-21s because it

03:18was a struggle to get him into the first team because, as I mentioned, those three midfielders,

03:21their performance were well. But since then, since the turn of the year, he's started two

03:29games in the FA Cup against Bromley and Birmingham City and he's come on as a substitute in quite a

03:35few Premier League games as well. So I do wonder if this is Lewis Miley's opportunity to come back

03:40into the team. Just another injury update. Jamala Sells was suggested last month by Eddie

03:47Howe, or last couple of weeks anyway, that he could be back next month, which is March,

03:53but Eddie Howe has now said that his return will be closer to the end of the season. So,

03:58yeah, a big blow for Jamala Sells. You know, you'll be focused on his recovery, but you do

04:04wonder if that maybe is Jamala Sells playing his last game for Newcastle. He's out of contract

04:09at the end of the season, I suppose. To earn a new contract, you've got to play. And, yeah,

04:16being backed towards the end of the season might not give the minutes that Jamala Sells needs to

04:22prove that. So he might have played his last game for Newcastle, but I don't think he really

04:25thinks about that. He'll be focused on his recovery over 12 months out with the ACL injury.

04:31Sven Botman, in many ways, was lucky that he came through his recovery with no hitches,

04:35because I think it's going to be a lot more complex than for Jamala Sells.

04:40Sorry, I just had to take a break there because he has eaten probably yarn. The reason why I'm

04:43laughing here is because the plastic around the dugout here at Whitley Park is being hugely

04:51affected by the wind. So I hope there you just hear what I was saying there. If not, I do apologise.

04:55So, yeah, looking ahead to Sunday's game, as I say, a huge one. Newcastle can either close the

05:02gap to Nottingham Forest in third place to three points, or they can end the day nine points behind

05:06if they lose. Or, of course, it could stay the same at six. But it's a real opportunity if Newcastle

05:11have got genuine ambitions to go and challenge that top four, then they need to beat Nottingham

05:16Forest. Because in the top four at the moment, you've got Liverpool, the runaway leaders,

05:20Arsenal, who will get Champions League. Manchester City, I suspect, will come strong in the latter

05:25stages of the season, albeit they got a bad result in midweek against Real Madrid. It feels

05:30like out of that four, Nottingham Forest is the most likely to drop. And, yeah, being able to close

05:36the gap is massive for Newcastle. Eddie Howe said that, and I asked Eddie Howe if he'd had a big

05:39game feel about it, and he said it would be a problem if it didn't. So for me, Newcastle have

05:43got to go and get a result. But there'll be two players, two former Newcastle players that'll be

05:49trying to stop them. Chris Wood, a man on fire, 18 goals this season, one more than Alexander

05:56Isak in the Premier League, only Mo Salah and Ian Horton have scored more than Chris Wood.

06:01And, of course, another one, Elliot Anderson, as well, who really is thriving down at the city

06:05ground. Look, going back to the Chris Wood deal, I think people would be lying if they said that

06:11they would regret selling Chris Wood. I think hindsight's a wonderful thing. Look, if you're

06:15going to predict that Chris Wood was going to go and score 80 Premier League goals this season,

06:19and more last season as well, you probably would have kept all of them. But at the time,

06:22Chris Wood wasn't scoring goals. He fitted the system, but he wasn't contributing the goals.

06:28Newcastle had Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson as back-up. That was their two main strikers,

06:33and Chris Wood was the third choice. And yeah, it made sense. It was good business for Newcastle,

06:37having signed him, I think, for around £25 million, to get £15 million back off him.

06:41It was a good move for Chris Wood as well, in terms of a longer-term contract,

06:45which he's just signed a new contract, and not a forest. So yeah, it just so happens that Chris

06:50Wood is going to have a very, very good time down at Nottingham Forest, and look, fair play to him,

06:54but I don't think we would have seen the same Chris Wood here had he stayed. And that goes for

06:58Elliot Anderson as well. Elliot Anderson, it was a real shame to let go of him. It was a massive,

07:05massive shame. But look, I've just mentioned, I'm talking about Lewis Murray trying to find

07:09a way at that midfield. I think Elliot Anderson would have the same struggles this season. Again,

07:13he wouldn't have seen the same player that was impressive at Nottingham Forest. But yeah,

07:17the thing with Anderson is he was young, he was a Geordie, Newcastle put a lot of effort into

07:21coaching him and getting him right. And yeah, it was almost sort of time wasted because he had to

07:26let him go because of PSR reasons. So I think it's a credit of all players that they're thriving away

07:32from St James' Park. Let's just hope they don't have a say on the result on Sunday,

07:38because yeah, Chris Wood did last year when he scored that break. Hopefully no repeat of that.

Category

Transcript

Recommended