Official Newcastle United injury update rules key man out of seven matches
Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope is out of action for a month, Eddie Howe has confirmed.
The Magpies’ number one visited a specialist on Friday morning after he picked up a knee injury in last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Brentford.
“He's carried a knee injury this week,” Howe said in his pre-Leicester City press conference. “Initially we thought it was nothing, so I think he's seeking some specialist opinion today and then we'll see if he's available for tomorrow.”
Lo and behold, Pope wasn’t named on the team sheet against Leicester City with Martin Dubravka stepping in to keep a clean sheet in a 4-0 victory.
After the game, Howe revealed the severity of Pope’s problem, which is set to rule him out for at least seven matches.
“He saw the specialist and the feedback is he’s going to be out for around a month so bad timing for us and for Nick as there are a lot of games in that four-week period,” Howe admitted.
“We hope after that four weeks he’ll be in a good enough condition to play. He injured himself just passing the ball against Brentford, really innocuous but he didn’t feel particularly good afterwards.”
The 32-year-old missed the majority of last season after a dislocated shoulder required surgery. As a result, Dubravka made 30 appearances and is now set for another run in the side with Odysseas Vlachodimos, who arrived in the summer as part of the PSR-forced deal that took Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest, as back-up.