Eddie Howe delivers injury updates on four important Newcastle United players ahead of Aston Villa trip
Eddie Howe spoke to the media on Friday morning ahead of Newcastle United's FA Cup match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday. Kick-off is at 5:45pm live on BBC and TNT Sports.
Newcastle are battered and bruised right now, with several key players carrying knocks.
Bruno Guimaraes added his name to the injury list on Tuesday when he pulled up with a hamstring issue towards the end of the win against Tottenham.
Initially, Eddie Howe and Bruno weren't sure how bad the problem was, and there was still hope that the captain would be fit to return to the team on Saturday.
Eddie Howe gives injury update on four key players
That's starting to look very unlikely following Eddie Howe's update this morning, where he also covered the progress of Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley and Joelinton. Unfortunately, none of it sounded positive as far as Saturday's game is concerned.
“With Bruno, we are still waiting to see the full extent of the injury
“Tino is on track for March. He is running back on grass.
"With Lewey, it is day to day. Having scans every few days. We don’t think it is long-term
“Joelinton is doing well. He won’t make this game. He is very positive”
Saturday's game just got a whole lot trickier
Without Bruno in the side, progression in the FA Cup becomes a much tougher task. Our winning record when he's not involved is ... well, it's non-existent. No wins in 11 games when Bruno hasn't been involved.
However, records have to break eventually, and there's no time like the present. We'd feel a bit more confident if we knew we had Lewis Miley or Joelinton returning, but we can only go with what we have.
At least it's sounding like everyone is on the right track and should be back soon.
