Bruno Guimaraes explains Newcastle United injury bombshell - and drops fitness hint

Bruno Guimaraes has thanked Newcastle United’s medical team following his miraculous recovery from an ankle injury.

The Brazilian rolled his ankle during the opening stages of the Magpies’ late 1-0 win against Fulham. He left the pitch in tears at half-time and was pictured on crutches wearing a protective boot after the match.

United head coach Eddie Howe revealed on Friday that Guimaraes’ scan results had come back positive, although seemingly played down the prospect of him featuring versus Crystal Palace.

However, to the surprise of many, the 24-year-old started the goalless draw in South London and played the full 90 minutes.

“I would like to say thank you to the medical staff, they did a brilliant job with me,” Guimaraes told NUFCTV.

“I’m very proud to be here because it was a difficult week for me, I already had some injury from playing with Brazil and I was out for 21 days [earlier in the season]. When I got injured last game I thought I would be out for weeks so I thought it was very important for me to be back.

“To play 90 minutes, I take more confidence. I was afraid in the beginning but after that it was good. It wasn’t one of my best games but it was good to be back on the pitch.”

He added: “I feel good, I feel fit so let’s think about the next game, We now have the semi-final to look forward to so it was important to get some minutes today to be ready for the Southampton game.”

The stalemate against Palace was a frustrating one for Guimaraes, who felt his teammates created enough chances to score at least one goal to win the game.

“I think we deserved at least one goal,” he said.

“We controlled the game but we need to be crucial in front of the goal. We know how difficult it is to play here. We kept fighting but we should win this game.

“I’m a little bit disappointed, we could win this game but let’s keep positive. We’re 15 games [unbeaten].”

Nevertheless, Howe’s men moved up to third in the Premier League - opening up a six-point gap on fifth place Tottenham Hotspur - and extended their unbeaten league run to 15 matches.