Newcastle United star ruled out of Sunderland and Manchester City games – another doubtful.
Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson has been ruled out of Saturday afternoon’s Tyne-Wear derby clash against Sunderland in the FA Cup third round (kick-off 8pm).
Wilson and England teammate Kieran Trippier missed the Magpies’ 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on New Year’s Day. After the match, Magpies boss Eddie Howe confirmed Wilson will miss the games against Sunderland and Manchester City, while Trippier is major doubt for the visit to the Stadium of Light.
Howe said: “Kieran has a groin problem, both injuries picked up against Nottingham Forest. We’re unsure how serious Kieran’s is but we hope we can get him back pretty quickly, Callum will be missing the next two games.”
The key duo have become the latest players to join the club’s lengthy injury list, which stands at 10 players – including Sandro Tonali, Nick Pope, Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock, Elliot Anderson, Javier Manquillo and Matt Targett.
Howe believes the number of absentees has taken its toll on his squad after the defeat at Anfield was Newcastle’s seventh in eight matches.
He said: “You talk to any team in the Premier League and take half their team away, you’re going to notice that over a long period of time and over a month where you’re playing every three days, so I think we’ve been put in a tough spot.
“The big thing I look for is the effort and commitment of the players. Was there today? Yes. As long as we have that, we’ll be fine.”
But Howe has told his players to put the Anfield loss swiftly behind them and focus all their attention on the first Tyne-Wear derby for almost eight years.
Howe’s men are aiming to become the first Newcastle team since 2011 to beat the Black Cats.
“There is no point over-analysing what’s just happened, we’ll obviously do that in the goal light of day,” Howe added.
“But for us, we have to look forward and the players have to look at Sunderland. We know how important the game is for the supporters and us in our season. All our energy is going towards that.”
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