Newcastle United were held to a score draw yesterday against National League side Gateshead. Yes, it’s only preseason, and the Geordies were missing 13 players, but a stalemate with a fifth tier club is still somewhat alarming. After the disappointing draw, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe provided updates on the five players who missed out on Saturday, due to injury: Sven Botman, William Osula, Valentino Livramento, Joelinton and Lewis Miley.
Let’s take a look at what Howe said, and see who will/won’t be back for the next friendly, a Wednesday night trip to Bristol City.
Preseason Friendly FYIs
Newcastle United at Bristol City
When: Wed July 29, 7:30pm
Where: Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, UK
Newcastle United Detailed Injury List: go here
Newcastle Team News
Howe provided the following updates to Newcastle’s in-house media.
“Sven just took a knock to his face [on Friday] in training,” Howe said. “We hope it is nothing serious and he will be back pretty quickly.”
As it’s just a knock, Botman could be in consideration to feature in midweek.
Osula is ruled out for this one, however, with the manager saying: “Will Osula just has a tight groin, we think he will be fine in a week or so.”
Elswhere Livramento will miss the whole preseason, and perhaps the early part of the season as well, as he recovers from the surgery he underwent to repair a calf injury.
“Tino Livramento will be around the start of the season we think,” Howe said on Saturday. “He had an operation, so he is probably the most longer term one but he should be back for the start of the season, fingers crossed.”
Miley isn’t too far away from returning, as he’s recovered nicely from the surgery that was required to repair his leg injury. He should be back in training again soon.
Said Howe: “Lewis Miley is making really good progress, we think he will be back in La Manga to train.”
So he should feature at some point this preseason, but Joelinton, most likely will not.
“Joelinton is doing really well,” Howe added. “He is running and we are just building up his fitness slowly, so he builds his robustness back.” We’ll see if Joelinton can be available for the season opener against Liverpool on Aug. 23.
Newcastle Post World Cup Holiday Absentees
Bruno Guimaraes (who is apparently more likely than not to stay at the club, this summer, despite all the exit talk) Bazoumana Toure, Yoane Wissa, Malick Thiaw, Anthony Elanga, Nick Woltemade and big, tall Dan Burn were all absent this past weekend, due to being granted holiday leave, after participating in the tournament.
Newcastle is the first Premier League side to visit Ashton Gate for a preseason friendly since Aston Villa in 2021, and thus, this match-up is drawing some interest.
Over 15,000 tickets have been sold so far.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.