Official club update on three injured Newcastle United players after Bournemouth

A lot of discussion after this Bournemouth match about the Newcastle United players who were missing, as well as those who were available to participate.

Eddie Howe’s team struggling to break down a packed defence, Bournemouth’s negative approach seeing them have only 32% possession in the first half, which then dropped to only 22% after the break.

However, that approach paying dividends with a point, although the Cherries did carry the luck at times.

Would / could NUFC have done any better if some of the missing Newcastle United players had been available?

Eddie Howe giving an official update post-match on the state of play for the various missing players.

Jonjo Shelvey might be back before the break for the World Cup in mid-November but for this injured trio, will one or more of them be available for the next game in 13 days time away at Fulham?

The head coach says that Elliot Anderson was only kept out by a ‘very minor niggle’ yesterday, a shame because without him the options were pretty much zero on the bench when it came to inspiration. Anderson had shown great promise when coming on against Palace in the previous match.

Eddie Howe says that he is really pleased with Callum Wilson’s progress in recovering from a hamstring injury but judged it too much of a risk to play him against Bournemouth. So, sounds like he should surely also be back for that Fulham match.

With Allan Saint-Maximin it doesn’t sound like that will be the case, after a ‘very minor setback’ ahead of yesterday’s game.

So good news on Anderson and Wilson and hopefully a bit of kidology from Eddie Howe on ASM, keeping Fulham guessing. The big positive once again though is that Eddie Howe looks after his players, rather than taking too big a risk when they aren’t really ready to return.

Eddie Howe reflecting on Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1:

“I don’t think we played particularly well.

“We were off our best level, it is one for us to reflect on.

“I am desperate to win and it feels like a long time for us  (since beating Forest on the opening day of the season).

“We need to win, we need to compete and be the best versions of us.

“Bournemouth defended very deep and it was our responsibility to break through them, I just felt we were off a little bit in every aspect of our game.

“It was probably epitomised by those last twenty minutes, where we score and it looked like we were set up to win.

“However, our decision making left us, it was a difficult watch.

“We could have won the game but it slipped away from us.

 “I think there is a sense of frustration in terms of the points (so far this season).

“The majority of our performances have been strong and we have deserved more, but the reality is, we haven’t won those games.”

Eddie Howe asked about Dan Burn coming in for Sven Botman:

“I just feel his (Dan Burn’s) leadership skills and his experience, we need that in our team at the moment.

“Sven is going to be an outstanding player and will play many, many games for this club.

“We love him to bits but Dan just gets the nod at the moment.”

International break plans for those staying on Tyneside:

“We will give them a bit of time off at the beginning of next week and just a chance to regroup mentally.

“It is a very busy period when we return and it is going to be a key spell before the World Cup.

“How well we do in this next group of games will be very important.”

Injury update:

“Callum (Wilson) is doing very well.

“We are really pleased with his progress.

“He was close (to making the matchday squad v Bournemouth) but I think we made an early decision that it would have been too big a risk.

“We hope that with a bit more time there is a chance that the next game (Fulham away on 1 October) could be good for him.

“With Allan (Saint-Maximin) it is slightly different.

“He has had a very minor setback, so whether or not he will be fit after the international break is slightly unclear.

“It’s certainly not long-term, but it’s not clear whether he’ll be fit for our next game yet.

“Very minor niggle (for Elliot Anderson), he will be fit, fine, for the next game (Fulham away on 1 October ).”

Stats from BBC Sport:

Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1 – Saturday 17 September 3pm

Goals:

Newcastle:

Isak 67 (Pen)

Bournemouth:

Billing 62

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Bournemouth 27% (32%) Newcastle 73% (68%)

Total shots were Bournemouth 10 (3) Newcastle 20 (6)

Shots on target were Bournemouth 3 (1) Newcastle 7 (4)

Corners were Bournemouth 1 (0) Newcastle 8 (4)

Referee: Craig Pawson

Attendance: 52,238 (Bournemouth – Not many)

Newcastle United:

Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Targett, Bruno (Longstaff 72), Willock, Joelinton, Almiron (Wood 89), Fraser (Murphy 71), Isak

Unused Subs:

Karius, Botman, Lascelles, Ritchie, Lewis, Manquillo

(3 Positives and 3 Negatives from Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1 – Read HERE)

(Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1 – Match ratings and comments on all the NUFC players – Read HERE)

(Every sympathy as Eddie Howe missing three and a half of his front six – Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1 – Read HERE)

(Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1 – Allan Saint-Maximin clear man of the match – Read HERE)

(Newcastle 1 Bournemouth 1 – The instant NUFC fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)