Sven Botman will not be back in action as soon as hoped as James Bunce lays down law

Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell added James Bunce to his staff almost immediately after signing his contract at the club.

In his first interview as Newcastle's sporting director, Mitchell spoke about the appointment of James Bunce after having worked with him at Monaco.

Bunce and Mitchell entered their roles at the Ligue 1 club when they had a raft of injuries much like Newcastle suffered last season, and between them, they were able to put things right and keep players fit much more regularly.

That is Bunce's remit at Newcastle, too after a season which saw the Magpies top the injury charts.

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Sven Botman won't return before December

It therefore makes sense that the Daily Mail are reporting that despite Sven Botman seemingly making good progress after his ACL surgery, he will still likely not play for the club until December.

Positive updates have been coming out from Botman himself lately suggesting that he could be fit to return much sooner than first feared.

However, it seems that Bunce will put his foot down and make sure that Botman uses the full extent of his recovery time to prevent any possible relapses.

Newcastle needed someone like James Bunce last season

It's not great that Newcastle will be without Botman until December, but it was always expected to be that way anyway.

Plus, it's far better he misses one big chunk of action than try to come back too soon and then be forced to miss even more football than he would have had he just waited.

It's great that Newcastle now has someone willing to stamp their authority on things when it comes to injuries. Last season we had too many heroes whose hearts were in the right place but they were ultimately risking their careers by playing injured. It doesn't look like Bunce is about to let that happen anymore.