Just as Newcastle United were starting to put out a strong squad with game-changers on the bench, it looks like one of their key men has suffered a further injury set-back and looks set to miss the next three huge games against Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham.
Despite his appearance from off the bench last week against Brentford, Allan Saint-Maximin appears to have suffered a further tweak to the injury that kept him out of the squad since his amazing volley against Wolves.
Allan Saint-Maximin has suffered setback in return from hamstring layoff & is out of tomorrow's trip to Man Utd. Also likely to miss Everton & Spurs over course of next week. Same issue as before, although irritation not thought to be too serious #nufc https://t.co/sawijVId5E
— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) October 15, 2022
The next three games come in quick succession with Manchester United tomorrow, Everton on Wednesday and Spurs at the weekend. It would be a great time to have strength in depth when it comes to the squad to give Howe the option to rotate in order to keep players fresh, however it looks like Howe will have to go back to the drawing board and work on a new strategy.
Will Newcastle Be OK Without Maxi In The Next Big Games?
We will struggle
We'll be fine
Allan Saint-Maximin’s injury was played off as not serious by Howe and in each subsequent media briefing following his injury, Howe would label Maxi as “close” to a return and then the matchday squad would come out and there’d be no sign of the mercurial Frenchman.
Once again the injury is not thought to be serious and the fact that he’ll likely miss three games is more down to fixture congestion than the length of recovery, that is, of course if the injury is in fact not serious. Given how long it took for Maxi to return in the first place, I’m not holding my breath.
Thankfully, Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy are both in fine form, so Maxi’s absence may not be as hardly felt as it would have been previously.
****Vital Newcastle are looking to recruit a new writer for the site. If you are a fan of the club and can commit to writing 3—5 articles at least 4 days per week then we would love to hear from you. Mail paddy@snack-media.com for more information****