‘Wait and see’ - Newcastle United £47m duo face surgery decision amid ‘strange’ injury blow

Newcastle United are waiting to see if Sven Botman and Jacob Murphy will need to undergo surgery in the coming weeks.

Botman has been sidelined since scoring in the 8-0 win over Sheffield United in September with a knee injury while Murphy has missed the last three matches after dislocating his shoulder against Borussia Dortmund.

It was initially hoped Botman would have returned by now but there have been issues with his recovery. It’s been suggested Newcastle will hope his injury clears up in the next couple of weeks and if not, surgery may be required.

“Unfortunately not [an update] with Sven,” said Howe. “We’ll have to wait and see over the next few weeks and then hopefully we’ll get some more news but at the moment we’re still waiting to find out.”

When pressed if Newcastle were waiting to see if the Dutchman requires surgery on his knee,” Magpies’ head coach Eddie Howe replied: “You wouldn’t be miles away.”

Meanwhile, it was feared Murphy would require an operation but that may not be needed with Howe revealing his shoulder has improved.

Howe added: “We’re going to see how he is. I think his shoulder has improved quite quickly so we’re trying to do everything we can to avoid an operation.”

Howe previously described the former Norwich City winger’s injury as “strange”.

“I think Jacob’s injury is hugely frustrating because that’s a strange injury that you don’t normally see and it’s the same with Harvey - very, very bizarre injury out of nothing,” he said on Tuesday.

“They are the ones you sort of rue because they can happen but your more traditional football injuries you can understand. The ones that come out of nowhere can be difficult to take.”