Eddie Howe has revealed that Joe Willock is slowly getting back to his best after the midfielder spent much of last season sidelined through injury.
Willock has started Newcastle United’s last two games, helping his side to victories over Chelsea and his former side Arsenal in the process. Linking up with Joelinton on the left, Howe’s side have enjoyed a mini-resurgence that they will hope continues this weekend when they make the trip to the City Ground.
Willock’s partnership with the Brazilian was one of the key components of the Newcastle United side that qualified for the Champions League during the 2022/23 season. However, Willock suffered a hamstring injury in the penultimate home game of the season against Brighton – one that kept him out of the first couple months of the next campaign.
Willock’s return to the first-team in October last year lasted just a few games before he suffered an achilles injury that kept him sidelined until February. He was then able to make just six further Premier League appearances before an injury against Fulham in early-April saw him miss the rest of the season.
His return to fitness this campaign hit a slight bump against Nottingham Forest back in August, but the 25-year-old now seems to be getting back to his best and Howe admitted it is a huge boost to him and the team to have Willock starting games again: “Joe has had a tough time with injuries,” Howe said.
“It looked like a serious hamstring injury when he did it [against Brighton] and then he had complications in other areas of his body and it hasn’t been easy for him.
“He’s had a lot of moments where he has been incredibly frustrated that he hasn’t been able to kick-on and get to the levels we saw of him. I thought [v Chelsea] was his best game since his comeback, physically he looked really really good, that’s a major part of his armoury.
“His ability to run box-to-box quickly, his ability to sense where the ball is and run. That’s Joe at his best and I was really pleased to see it because he’s been a big miss for us because he adds a totally different feel to our midfield and he’s a goal threat.”
