“Bad news” – Rafa Benitez delivers his verdict after awful Newcastle confirmation

Newcastle haven’t had an easy season, both on or off the pitch, but this week, it got even worse. The club confirmed that, in all likelihood, Sean Longstaff is set to miss the rest of the season with a knee issue.

This is, of course, a huge blow for the club. Longstaff has emerged ass one of our most impressive young players this term, and he’d been a regular under Rafael Benitez.

The manager has today, during his pre-match press conference, delivered his verdict on the news, and unsurprisingly, he’s not too happy about it.

As per the official Newcastle website, he said: “When you have an injury in your team, it’s always bad news. For a young player it’s even worse. Talking with him, he’s fine mentally – he’s strong enough. He knows he needs to start working to get fit as soon as possible. His reaction has been really positive, but we’re disappointed with the injury.”

Benitez is clearly frustrated, and with good reason. He’s lost a great player, during an important time in the season.

Losing Longstaff is a blow, but the good thing for Newcastle and the player is that he’s young. He’s got time on his side, and a few months off, given his age, isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Still, we’ll just have to hope that someone can step up in his absence.

Thoughts?