Eddie Howe gives Sven Botman injury update after knee operation - expects he will return to action this season

Sven Botman has had a nightmare couple of years with his knees, missing most of the last two seasons through various injuries, the Newcastle United defender looked to be getting back to full fitness when disaster struck again.

Having undergone surgery on an ACL problem a year ago, Botman returned to action in the new year but struggled to get up to full pace before succumbing to another knee problem.

While it wasn't the same knee as he'd had surgery on last year, it was still a huge concern for Newcastle fans, especially when it was revealed that he'd have to go under the knife yet again.

We didn't know exactly what the problem was, but in his press conference this morning, Eddie Howe has now shared what the operation was for.

Sven Botman had a 'floating bone' in his knee

Speaking to the media (via The Chronicle), Howe gave an update on Botman after his latest operation, and he believes he could return to action this season.

"Yeah, Sven's not too bad. He's had an operation, a very minor operation, just to clean out a floating bone that was in his knee that was causing him the problem.

"I think the initial diagnosis was between six to eight weeks, but I think it's already got through two or three of those, so he's on the road, he's feeling good, fingers crossed we see him probably in May sometime."

Anthony Gordon is due to return to training this week

Howe also gave an update on Anthony Gordon, who left the England camp early after picking up a big knock in the game against Albania.

"Anthony has a really nasty bruise in and around his thigh. He's up and running, feeling quite good. He hasn't trained with the group yet, so we anticipate he'll do that within the next few days.

Gordon is suspended for Wednesday night's game against Brentford so wasn't in contention anyway, but with him due to return to training this week we expect he'll be back in the squad for Leicester on Monday.