Newcastle United star spotted at Carabao Cup celebrations ruled out for another four weeks

Newcastle United defender Sven Botman is on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery to fix a knee issue.

Botman last featured for the Magpies in their 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Arsenal two months ago. An initial assessment determined the problem to be minor before four weeks later - after he missed matches against Birmingham City, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion - it was confirmed the Dutchman required surgery.

But the injury has not stopped the 22-year-old from joining in the club’s Carabao Cup celebrations. Botman was in the dressing room at Wembley for the 2-0 win over Liverpool and was on the open-top bus that paraded Eddie Howe’s squad around the streets of Newcastle on Saturday.

Newcastle return to Premier League action when they host Brentford at St James’ Park on Wednesday. Howe provided an update on Botman in his pre-match press conference, revealing the centre-back is still around a month away from recovering.

“Sven's not too bad,” said Howe. “He's had an operation, a very minor operation, just to clean out a bit of floating bone that was in his knee that was causing him the problem.

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“I think the initial diagnosis was between six to eight weeks, but I think he's already got through two or three of those. So he's on the road. He's feeling good. Fingers crossed we'll see him probably in May sometime.”

Another Newcastle United defender likely to miss the rest of the season

It’s hoped Botman can be back involved for the final few matches of the season, however the chances of fellow centre-back Jamaal Lascelles returning before then is growing increasingly unlikely.

Lascelles picked up an ACL injury in March last year, just a couple of weeks after Botman sustained the same issue. The Dutchman was out for 10 months and played five times before sustaining another knee problem, although it is in the opposite knee.

“I don’t know whether we’ll see Jamaal before the end of the season,” Howe said. “I don’t really want to set a target on his time to return. He’s started very light training with the squad, but that would be light, not necessarily in competitive drills. He’s joined in the drills that have been non-competitive, and he’s looked really good. It’s small steps for him.

“We’re hoping he can definitely be joining in and competing in training before the end of the season, but whether that ties in with the team and whether he gets there in time in terms of competitive action, let’s wait and see.

“He’s a big player for us. He’s very popular, and he’s still a huge leader in the group. He’s got a big presence, and I’m delighted that he got to lift the cup with the other guys. He deserved that moment for the length of time he’s been here and the service he’s given the club.”

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