Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admits that injuries are beginning to cut into his Toon squad ahead of the second half of the season.
On a day in which Anthony Gordon missed out due to a quad muscle injury, Howe was dealt a fresh blow as Dan Burn went off with a groin injury. Newcastle already have Harvey Barnes, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman on the injury list too.
The day after Newcastle submitted a 24-man senior squad to the Premier League, Howe knows that he must tread carefully in the weeks ahead – given five of that number were goalkeepers.
He said: “We have put a lot of big efforts in games, we are just picking up one or two injuries in games now which is a real concern for us. We have a small squad, we have Sven missing, Anthony was feeling his squad so didn’t travel, Dan has done his groin, that is a big concern.
“We hope Anthony will be back in contention next weekend. We treat the cups the same (as the Premier League), everyone who is fit we will take. Anthony was not fit today so he was not here today because he had a problem.”
And Howe flicked his mind back briefly to last term when Newcastle had 41 separate injuries, saying: “Last season we had big numbers of players out and it disrupted us in the middle of the season. We were forced to take Dan Burn off. It was something with his groin. Fingers crossed it’s not too bad.”
Reflecting on the ding dong cup tie against Birmingham, Howe said: “It was a tough game for us. Mentally, physically – you could see a few players were on the edge today. We’re delighted to get through.
“I thought it was going to be a difficult night before the game. [The early goal] made it doubly difficult because the atmosphere in the stadium totally changed. We managed to get a foothold and did really well. At half-time it was about staying calm. I thought we did that a lot better in the second half.”
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