Newcastle United confirm third season-ending injury blow ahead of Nottingham Forest
Newcastle United will be without at least four players for Sunday’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
Tino Livramento has effectively been ruled out for the final three games of the season by Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe.
The defender suffered a thigh injury in the 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth at St James’ Park last month. While it was hoped he would be back before the end of the season, Howe is now claiming that is unlikely.
It follows the news that Lewis Miley has been ruled out for several months with a broken fibula injury picked up in training that required surgery earlier this week.
NUFC duo may not feature again this season
Miley and defender Emil Krafth have already been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury with Livramento also looking likely.
There is some hope that Fabian Schar could return before the end of the season but doubt remains after a lengthy spell on the sidelines dating back to early January.
“Tino's doing well, he's really improving, he's back running again, he's on the grass,” Howe added, before issuing a U-turn on his previous hope of having the player back before the end of the season. “I don't think he'll be back this season.
“I think we could possibly push him maybe for the Fulham game, but I think that would be silly really on his behalf. I think let's let him recover and get a good summer behind him.”
On Schar, Howe added: “Yeah, not 100% sure. Whether or not he's going to be fit enough to take the pitch again between now and the end of the season, let’s wait and see.”
Lewis Miley injury
Reflecting on Miley’s injury, Howe said: “Yeah, it was a really innocuous moment, really, training on Tuesday.
“No-one around him, there was no other player involved. He slipped and went down. We probably at that moment thought maybe just a twist of something, nothing too serious, but he was unable to continue and pretty early sort of became aware it was a little bit more serious than we thought.
“That's the fragile nature of a professional footballer's career and now he faces a few months out. We hope that he'll be back in and around it for pre-season.
“It's a real shame because he was playing really, really well, outstanding in recent weeks. We really missed him when he got his injury last time, so a real blow for us, but also for Louis and knowing the strength of character, he'll be back and he'll be back better than ever, but it's going to be a blow for him and for us.”