Eddie Howe shares when we can expect to see Lewis Hall in action as Newcastle United left-back left out of squad to face Arsenal
Last season, Lewis Hall surprised everybody with his stunning form for Newcastle United after being so rarely used in his first season at the club.
Indeed, for the longest time, we couldn't see any other player getting close to Hall for our Player of the Season, but fate had other ideas.
An ankle injury picked up in the game against Liverpool in February required surgery, and the 20-year-old's season ended in March.
Now the former Chelsea man is back in training with the first team and has travelled out to Asia with the rest of the squad; however, his name was absent from the teamsheet on Sunday as Newcastle took on Arsenal.
Eddie Howe says Lewis Hall isn't ready for game time
After such a long layoff, we weren't really expecting Hall to be thrown back into the thick of things before he was 100% ready, and Eddie Howe has now given fans an idea of when they can expect to see the England star in action again when speaking to NUFC TV on Sunday.
“Yeah, I think he’s still some way away from game time.
“I think the first step for him is to train regularly with us, but he did that yesterday (Saturday) for the first time, as I said, in the group. So, small steps for him, but certainly positive ones.”
Tino Livramento may have to continue at left back for Newcastle for a little while longer
Reading between the lines there it does sound as though we'll likely not see Lewis Hall in action in the early games of the season.
With Hall being 'some way away from game time', that does suggest we'll not see him in pre-season action, unless he makes a cameo during the Sela Cup, but he'll maybe need a game or two with the reserves before stepping back into Premier League action.
Tino Livramento has covered well at left-back in his absence, so we're not left completely in the lurch, and despite the own goal and another instance where he took a heavy touch, Alex Murphy showed some promise in the game against Arsenal after impressing coming off the bench against Celtic, so maybe the youngster could be handed an opportunity to step up.
