Newcastle United have unearthed 'fearless' teenage midfielder - could be in squad v Burnley
The growing list of injuries has led to Newcastle United calling up the 16-year-old to their first-team squad.
Newcastle United aren’t expecting any of their injured players to return in time for Tuesday’s Premier League trip to Burnley.
The Magpies welcomed back Nick Pope into the matchday squad for the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United on Boxing Day, however remained without eight first-team players.
£55million summer signing Anthony Elanga became the latest casualty after missing the visit to his former club with an unspecified knock, joining Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, Will Osula, Tino Livramento and Dan Burn in the treatment room.
Newcastle United will remain without several players v Burnley
Of that list, six are defenders. In the last three matches against Fulham, Chelsea and Man United, Howe has been forced to deploy Lewis Miley as a makeshift right-back, while Malick Thiaw and Fabian Schar have started at centre-back.
Livramento started at left-back against Fulham but a knee injury has seen Hall, who missed that game due to a tight hamstring, start back-to-back matches. It’ll likely be the same back four that lines up at Turf Moor.
“I don't think so,” Howe told NewcastleWorld when asked if any players will return versus the Clarets. “We're not 100% sure.
“We've got a whole group of players that are getting closer, obviously not as quickly as I would like them. I'd like them fit and available as quickly as possible because our back line has been really stretched.
“The guys that have played I think have done really well, especially Lewy Miley playing out of position. We really would welcome some of those players back, but whether it's for Burnley, I don't know.
“We would like to rotate, especially with the schedule that we've got coming up in January is going to be probably harder than it was during December, so I think we've got a tough period of games coming up and we need fresh players fit and available for that.
“But we're obviously at a point where we can't lose any more players to our back line.”
‘Fearless’ Newcastle United 16-year-old called up to squad
The heavy list of injuries has seen Howe turn to the academy to help fill the bench in recent games, and the latest youngster to be called up to the squad is 16-year-old Sam Alabi.
Alabi joined from Oldham Athletic in 2023 and has this season made his under-21s debut, as well as continue to represent England at youth level.
The midfielder was named in the Magpies’ squad for the Champions League clash away to Marseille last month but the trip to Old Trafford was the first time he had featured on a Premier League bench.
And it is a former Man United player that Alabi has drawn comparisons to. Earlier this year, a popular social media account called Future Ballers shared a video of Alabi in action and likened him to Paul Pogba.
Commenting on Alabi’s call up, Howe said: “Sam's done well when he's trained with us. He's so young and we've got to be very mindful of that and look after him and protect him and nurture him but he's certainly got a lot of talent.
“He's got a great attitude as well. I love his fearlessness and how he's adapted himself to the group. He's got a great future ahead of him if he continues to work hard.”