Eddie Howe says Newcastle United will be without midfielder Joelinton for “weeks not months” due to a knee injury.
The 28-year-old was withdrawn in the second half of his side’s defeat to Fulham on Saturday and subsequently missed Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal.
Howe explained ahead of Wednesday’s fixture that Joelinton was no longer wearing of a knee brace, and while he confirmed at full time the midfielder was set for a spell on the sidelines, he played down the severity of the injury.
“He will be out for weeks not months,” Howe said. “We don’t think it’s a serious injury but it will be enough to make him miss the next few league games.”
Joelinton has started 23 of Newcastle’s 24 Premier League fixtures this season, only missing December’s victory over Ipswich Town through suspension.
His injury is expected to rule him out of a run of games that see Newcastle face three of the Premier League’s top five in the space 11 days as Howe’s side play Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool across a two-week spell in February.
Joelinton was absent as Newcastle beat Arsenal 2-0 at St James’ Park to secure a 4-0 aggregate victory and book their place in the Carabao Cup final. Goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon sealed the win and Newcastle will face the winners of Thursday’s tie between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Wembley on March 16.
“I’m just very, very pleased to have got through this tie because that was two really tough games against a very good team,” Howe added. “But I don’t think anyone can say it was not deserved really in the end. I thought we were really committed to our defensive work tonight, much better than we were in our last two league games here. (We) showed that we can defend to a really high level.
“Physically, I thought we were much better tonight than we have been in those two league games. Really, really good energy and of course, bouncing off the crowd who were magnificent for us. So a really good performance.”
Newcastle return to action against Birmingham City in the FA Cup on Saturday.
GO DEEPER
The Briefing: Newcastle 2 Arsenal 0 (agg: 4-0) – Howe’s system shock, Isak toys with Saliba, Wembley awaits
(George Wood/Getty Images)
