Newcastle have been setback with the news that Tuesday night’s hero Florian Lejeune has been ruled out once more after picking up a groin injury.
Emil Krafth, who also featured against Everton, has also been ruled out, though his looks like a far worse injury.
The Swede was on the receiving end of a strong tackle by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and he now looks set to miss out for well over a month. Steve Bruce revealed within his press conference today that he carried on throughout the match, but he had in fact “done” his ankle ligaments.
Lejeune, on the other hand, shouldn’t be out for as long. The Frenchman injured himself after he was taken out after his second goal the other night; you could tell he had taken a knock, however, he was quickly on his feet when he realised the goal had been given, and you can’t really blame him.
As you can read below, Bruce spoke of the setbacks to the press.
Steve Bruce speaks with the press ahead of tomorrow's game:
"Krafth is going to miss the next six weeks. He battled on the other night but it was a bad challenge on him. He’s done his ankle ligaments. Lejeune picked up a groin injury scoring either the first or the second goal.” pic.twitter.com/b5Kv41MqdO
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 24, 2020
So then, the injury saga continues for United. According to Premier Injuries, the club now have 13 injuries to the first-team, which is quite frankly remarkable.
With Emil Krafth, Javi Manquillo and DeAndre Yedlin injured, that leaves very few options at right wing-back, with Isaac Hayden playing there the other day.
Thankfully, the club have just signed Valentino Lazaro, who is capable of playing anywhere down the right flank – including right wing-back – so if he is fit to play this weekend, there could be a chance that he features in the FA Cup, though they may rather keep him rested.
Should Bentaleb start vs Oxford in the FA Cup?
Yes
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No return date was mentioned for Lejeune, but he is seen as an important first-team player for the club, so it is will frustrate Bruce.
The Magpies boss might have hoped this game against Oxford United was a good time to rotate the squad and give players some game time, however, the amount of injuries means that they don’t have many options for rotation, unless they play a very young side.