As Eddie Howe sat down to speak with the media this morning, much of the focus was on Fabian Schar and the latest regarding his nasty-looking ankle injury.
The severity is not yet clear, but it looks to be ligament damage, NOT a broken ankle, with the 34-year-old set to see a specialist in the coming days.
With Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman now our only fit centre-back, Howe was then asked about Dan Burn and Jamaal Lascelles, and it sounds like the latter has more chance of leaving than being back in action for Newcastle anytime soon.
Discussing Lascelles, who is still not ready to train, Howe admitted that the 32-year-old could leave the club this month:
“He’s not training with us currently. He hasn’t felt well enough physically to train. I don’t necessarily think that he’s injured in the sense that he’s got one big injury, I just think his body’s not feeling great.
“So he’s not training with us currently. We hope that will change in the next few weeks.
“But yeah, there’s a possibility that he could leave as well. Jamaal’s been an incredible servant. He’s a great leader for us behind the scenes. So, let’s wait and see what happens on his future.”
Lascelles has only played 19 minutes of football all season, appearing off the bench in late September, and is out of contract at the end of the season.
As for Burn, Howe has offered a fresh update on his recovery from a lung and rib issue suffered at Sunderland, having said he’s still a ‘few weeks away’ after Wednesday night’s win over Leeds.
He’s back on the grass, running again and “making good progress”, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be able to return anytime soon as we head into games against Bournemouth, Man City and Wolves over the next 10 days:
“Dan was given a timeframe; I am not sure how much we can shave off that with the type of injury he’s got.
“He’s out on the grass, he is running, making good progress.
“He is here every day, Dan will be very keen to push himself back, but it is one we need to be careful with.”
