‘It’s not clear’: Eddie Howe now says 28-year-old winger faces uncertain injury layoff

Eddie Howe gave an update on the severity of Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak's injuries this morning during his pre-match press conference.

It was a costly night for Newcastle United on Wednesday, not just in terms of the result, but also because Eddie Howe saw two of his stars withdrawn from the game through injury.

Alexander Isak was first off after going down with a suspected reoccurrence of the groin problem that had kept him out of the last few games. He's now expected to miss the next five games for the Magpies.

Murphy is set to see a specialist about his shoulder

Meanwhile, Jacob Murphy followed up his scintillating display against Crystal Palace with just three minutes on the pitch against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. The substitute fell awkwardly and seemingly dislocated his shoulder, though the full prognosis still isn't clear.

In his Friday media briefing ahead of the Wolves clash on Saturday evening, Howe was asked for updates on the pair and it seems like it's a coin toss for Murphy right now (quotes via The Chronicle).

“Very different injuries, Alex is a groin which we don't think is serious but it's a reoccurrence of the groin injury he suffered playing for Sweden so we need to assess that. He's have a scan today but we don't suspect that is going to be too bad.

Jacob's is totally different as it's dislocation of his shoulder. It's not clear what we're going to do and I think he's going to see a specialist today. You can play with these injuries or the other side is he needs an operation and he'll be out for some time.”

Fingers crossed it's one of those dislocations you can pop back in and he will be good to go!

The winger and striker aren't Howe's only concerns

After that display against Crystal Palace, it will be devastating for Murphy, and indeed the whole club for him to be out of action for an extended period now.

Additionally, Sven Botman and Elliot Anderson remain sidelined with Howe saying that Anderson could be out for eight weeks and Botman still needs at least another week to recover.

Harvey Barnes is also out until January, Lewis Miley has glandular fever and is set to miss 'weeks', and Sandro Tonali is on the cusp of a season-long suspension.