'Kick in the teeth' - Newcastle United man reacts after being ruled out for nine months

The 28-year-old hadn’t featured since the 3-0 win away to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on November 1 after injuring his hamstring during the early stages. Surgery was required and Targett was out for four months before returning to the matchday squad in March for matches against Chelsea and Manchester City.

However, Targett was immediately hit with another long-term injury after tearing his Achilles. It forced him to miss the rest of the 2023-24 campaign and pre-season. He resumed first-team training last week and played 45 minutes as the Magpies’ under-21s drew 1-1 with Tyne-Wear rivals Sunderland at Whitley Park.

“It’s been a long road to recovery for me, first with my hamstring, I was then back for a week and had a tear in Achlles so it a kick in the teeth,” Targett told NUFCTV. “I worked really hard during this time. I feel fit, strong and happy to be back. It’s now time to build on that [the 45 minutes].

“It was a great opportunity to get some minutes, especially having trained the whole of last week. I looked at the schedule to see where I can get the minutes in because it’s really important after missing the whole pre-season. The 21s was perfect to get some minutes.”

With Champions League football returning to St James’ Park, and United reaching the quarter-finals of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, 51 games were played in total last season. Targett featured in just seven, only two of which were starts.

“The whole season was frustrating but the start of the new season is full of excitement, especially with the Champions League, and you think there are so many opportunities with the amount of games we had,” he added. “To not be available for them was difficult.

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“It’s been tricky. To get your head around the hamstring operation, I got back just before the March or April international break and after that you get a tear in your Achilles.”

And Targett was keen to thank Eddie Howe and his coaching staff following his long-term, all of whom watched Targett’s comeback from the Whitley Park stands.

“They’ve been brilliant ever since I picked up the injury, always checking on me,” the left-back said. “I can’t thank the coaching staff enough. I know it’s frustrating for them when I’m not available and it’s frustrating for me when I’m not available for them so the support they’ve given me - I can’t thank them enough.”

After appearing in front of just over 800 spectators at Benton, Targett has now set his sights of a first-team return with the Carabao Cup tie away to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, August 28, targeted.

He was an unused substitute for the Premier League opener against former club Southampton on Saturday and will likely take his place on the bench for the visit to AFC Bournemouth this weekend.

But Forest - at the City Ground - is where Targett feels he could get some further minutes.

Targett said: “Obviously you work hard to try and get back with the first-team as soon as possible. I had a good week’s training last week, it’s great to be back with the boys and yeah, a big boost to be put on the bench and be back at St James’ Park.

“[I’ll] carry on training, getting that training sharpness back into the legs. We have a couple of big days this week so it’s important to carry on building on my fitness and hopefully look forward to the cup game but obviously Bournemouth is first. We’ll focus on that and hopefully be available for the cup.

“That’s what I’ll be aiming for and hopefully just an injury-free season, and we’ll see where it takes us.”