‘Bizarre’: Eddie Howe says £39m forward’s injury is ‘difficult to take’ as injury crisis worsens

Eddie Howe has been left to rue the state of his Newcastle United squad after picking up a series of injuries recently.

The Magpies are now without seven first-team players through injury and suspension leaving Eddie Howe's squad down to the bare bones amidst a run of tough fixtures.

Jacob Murphy recently added himself to the list after a freak injury in the Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund. The winger had only been on the field for three minutes when he fell awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder.

The head coach says the 'bizarre' injuries sting the most

Speaking about the injury crisis today ahead of the Carabao Cup Round Four game against Manchester United tomorrow, Howe spoke of Murphy and Harvey Barnes' injuries as being particularly frustrating.

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Howe said that footballing injuries are easy to take as they're bound to happen, but those issues are a different story, (quotes via The Chronicle).

"I think Jacob's injury is hugely frustrating because that's a strange injury you don't normally see. It's the same with Harvey, they're both very bizarre injuries out of nothing.

Those are the ones you rue because they can happen, but your more traditional football injuries you can sort of understand. The ones that come out of nothing are more difficult to take."

Howe has some difficult weeks ahead of him

Barnes is out long-term with a toe injury after sitting down on the pitch just 12 minutes into the 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United. The £39 million signing from Leicester City has made only seven appearances for the Magpies, accumulating just 186 minutes of action in all competitions.

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Newcastle's next three games are Man United, Arsenal, and Dortmund, all tough contests which we will have to face with a depleted squad.

This will be Howe's biggest test yet... well maybe after the whole lifting the side from rock bottom of the Premier League to finish 11th miracle!