Eddie Howe facing huge defensive crisis as fixture list congestion shows no sign of easing for Newcastle United

Newcastle United suffered a bruising defeat on Sunday as local rivals Sunderland stole a 1-0 victory via the head of Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade.

It was probably one of the worst games the Premier League has ever seen and one that was absolutely not worthy of the occasion.

As bad as the game and the result were, it threw up a bigger problem for Eddie Howe, though, as Dan Burn was carted off to the hospital at half time.

After a coming together between himself and Nordi Mukiele, Dan Burn was floored with severe chest pains after the slick surface carried Muikiele, knees first, into Burn's chest.

Dan Burn will be out for around six weeks after puncturing a lung on Sunday

Burn eventually got back to his feet and tried to carry on, but anyone who'd watched the incident back could see that would be a bad idea. He did eventually see sense and was taken off.

It has now been confirmed that Burn suffered a fractured rib and a punctured lung in the incident and is now expected to miss at least six weeks of action.

This leaves Eddie Howe with a huge problem at the back after already complaining of being light when it comes to defensive options.

Eddie Howe only has four defenders to pick from

Eddie Howe, this morning, confirmed that both Emil Krafth and Kieran Trippier will be out until the New Year and while Sven Botman is on the mend, he's not ready to return either.

That pretty much just leaves Howe with four defenders to choose from for his next few matches, with Tino Livramento, Malick Thiaw, Fabian Schar and Lewis Hall practically guaranteed to start every game until players start coming back to fitness.

Fortunately, they do complete a competent back four, but one error, one suspension, a tiny injury, and Newcastle are up the creek. This season has certainly been sent to test us.