Newcastle have been dealt another injury blow after boss Eddie Howe revealed that Sven Botman will be absent for around eight weeks.
Howe also confirmed the Magpies would not be appealing against Anthony Gordon’s red card due to ‘insufficient grounds’, meaning the winger will miss the Carabao Cup final along with Botman.
The centre-half sat out last Sunday’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Brighton and now faces a spell on the sidelines with a knee issue that requires a minor operation.
Howe said: “With Sven, we’ve been trying to get him back to full fitness and he was actually very close for the Brighton game.
Eddie Howe on Sven Botman:
"Sven, we have been trying to get him back to full fitness, he was very close to the Brighton game but the day before he felt something again in his knee. This week he has had the same discomfort so it looks like he will have to have an operation.
He… pic.twitter.com/BmZp8KYHYU
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) March 7, 2025
“Just the day before, one of the last actions in training, he felt the same problem in his knee.
“So that meant again, just a resetting and we still hoped he could come back, but this week he’s felt the same discomfort, so it looks like he’ll now have to have an operation.
“This has come from a knock in one of his first games back and again, he didn’t feel it was a big issue.
“Without going too technically, he just needs a small operation just to clear out some fluid, then he’ll be fine again.”
The loss of Botman comes after fellow defender Lewis Hall was ruled out for the rest of the season with a foot issue.
Howe is hopeful the 25-year-old Dutchman will still be able to feature this term.
“It’s a really minor operation, but whenever you have an operation there’s always a slight unknown, but we hope he’ll be back sort of eight weeks,” Howe added.
“That’s the sort of timeline and should give him plenty of time to get some games in before the end of the season.”
Botman’s absence is another big setback for Newcastle, who go to West Ham in the Premier League on Monday before facing Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final the following weekend.
The Magpies will definitely be without the suspended Gordon after the club decided not to appeal against his red card in the defeat to Brighton.
The winger was dismissed in the 83rd minute after catching Jan Paul van Hecke in the face while challenging for the ball.
Howe said: “We discussed it as a club with the respective people we needed to discuss it with, lawyers et cetera.
“We just felt there probably wasn’t sufficient grounds to do that.
“You have to look at it in isolation and review the incident, there was no intention from Anthony.
“Without going into too much detail on the actual event itself, I think the player sort of bends down, it makes the push look worse. There was no intention from Anthony to hurt anybody.
“You have to look at it and go ‘does this have a chance of being successful?’. If there’s no chance of being successful, what’s the point of appealing? Anthony understands that.”
