Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has spoken out to give an update on the latest injuries in the squad during their pre-season tour of Japan.
The Newcastle United squad have been reunited after a summer full of international tournaments and are currently in Japan for their pre-season tour before they return to Tyneside for the Premier League campaign starting next month.
Eddie Howe will be working hard to get his squad prepared for the challenges ahead of them after a disappointing end to their season which saw them finish seventh and without European qualification.
Injury issues were the catalyst in Newcastle’s failure to replicate their top-four finish from the 2022/23 season and ensuring there is enough availability in the squad to cover the most important roles will be essential if they are to improve on their consistency in performances.
Indeed, the scale of the Magpies’ injury crisis could not be foreseen, but making the mistake of not recruiting the depth in each crucial position would be an oversight that could set them back even further in the long term, so further investment into new additions this summer would be ideal.
In the meantime, the Newcastle boss will be tasked with managing what he already has whilst in Japan this week, but has now given an update on a few of the young players who didn’t catch the flight despite being part of the training camp at Adidas HQ in Germany.
Garang Kuol, Alex Murphy and Joe White were all expected to play their part in the upcoming friendlies this week, however, speaking to NewcastleWorld, Howe revealed:
“With Garang, we’re waiting to see what happened with him,”
“He’s got a little bit of swelling in his knee so we’re not sure if he’ll be okay.”
“Joe White is nursing a sore back so again we’re assessing that one and Alex will be out for a couple of weeks with a hip problem.”
