Sven Botman & Dan Burn injury update ahead of Newcastle United vs Manchester City

Dan Burn and Sven Botman are doubts for Newcastle United’s Premier League clash against Manchester City on Saturday.

Botman picked up a knee injury in the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Arsenal last Wednesday, which forced him to miss the weekend’s FA Cup fourth round victory at Birmingham City.

Burn started at St Andrew’s but was brought off in the 55th minute due to a groin problem.

What Eddie Howe said on Sven Botman & Dan Burn

Speaking about Botman before the game, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “I don't think he'll be available for this weekend. He has taken a knock to his knee [the opposite one to his ACL injury].

"We don’t believe it is a serious injury but it'll be enough to keep him out of the Birmingham game and we'll then assess him during the week before our next league game."

Asked after the game if Botman would be available for Man City, Howe replied: “I don't know at this moment in time. Of course, we'd love him to be, but we don't know how serious Dan's injury is at the moment.

“I was a reluctant starter of Dan tonight. I didn't want to take that risk with any of our players. But we played against Wednesday because we knew the physical cost of that game, but numbers dictated we had to.”

Sven Botman & Dan Burn injury latest

According to Mail Sport, the results of scans on both players have allayed fears of a serious injury, though they remain a doubt for the visit to the Etihad Stadium.

Botman last month returned from an ACL injury while Burn has been available for all but one of Newcastle’s 31 games in all competitions this campaign, and he only missed that because of a one-match suspension.

Who could start at centre-back against Man City?

Emil Krafth is likely to partner Fabian Schar at centre-back, if Burn or Botman are ruled out.

As it stands, Krafth and Schar are the only options available to Howe after United sanctioned Lloyd Kelly’s move to Juventus. The 26-year-old, who only joined Newcastle on a free transfer in the summer, has joined on loan with a £20million obligation to buy.

In his six months at St James’ Park, Burn’s durability and Botman’s return to fitness, as well Lewis Hall nailing down the left-back spot, restricted Kelly to just four Premier League starts, his last coming in November.

In other news, Newcastle United put Anthony Gordon replacement on standby vs Man City after £123m blow.