‘Huge’ - Newcastle United lose £28m duo to long-term injury after Man Utd & Arsenal injuries

Newcastle United have lost Dan Burn and Matt Targett to long-term injuries, head coach Eddie Howe has confirmed.

Burn was forced to withdraw at half-time during the Magpies’ 1-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday evening after falling awkwardly on his back.

And three days earlier, Targett limped out of the Carabao Cup win at Manchester United after picking up a hamstring issue. Both players are facing “months” on the sidelines.

“Unfortunately, Dan will be out for some time I think, It’s another long-term problem, a couple of months,” said Howe, speaking ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund. “It’s a speculative number for us. He landed on his spine, there’s a problem with the base of his spine so a huge blow.

“He’s been gigantic for us since he signed for lots of different reasons. His character, determination to win, experience and versatility as well. It’s not just one position we’re losing, we’re losing his ability to play centre-back. It’s something we have to roll with.”

On Targett, Howe told NewcastleWorld: “We don’t know 100 per-cent, I think he’s seeing a specialist tonight before we get clearer information. It’s not going to be a short-term fix for Matt, he’ll be out for, I’d probably say around three months but that’s a rough estimate.

“It’ll be around that figure regardless of whether he has surgery or not.”

Burn and Targett join Jacob Murphy, Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Elliot Anderson, Harvey Barnes and Javier Manquillo in the treatment room, while Howe is also without the suspended Sandro Tonali.

And with Matt Ritchie and Emil Krafth ineligible to feature in the Champions League, Howe has called up under-21s duo Ben Parkinson and Lucas de Bolle for his matchday squad against Dortmund.

“We’ve added a couple of younger players to the squad but we’ll go with that, that’s all we can do,” Howe said. “You always get injuries but the problem with us is a lot of the injuries we’ve got currently are longer-term which means there is no relief coming around the corner which then leaves every game you play in a dangerous position.

“We wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve really enjoyed the game we’ve had but they’ve come at a cost recently with injuries you can’t prepare for. Dan, again, went up for a header and fell on his back, that could happen at any moment but unfortunately for us, it’s come at the wrong time.”