Eddie Howe agrees with Bruno Guimaraes amid Newcastle United injury ‘hammer blow’ claim
Dominic Scurr
2 – 3 minutes
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Eddie Howe admitted it would be a ‘hammer blow’ to be without Dan Burn, such is his importance to Newcastle United.
Burn is a doubt for Newcastle’s Premier League trip to Manchester City on Saturday (3pm kick-off) after picking up a groin injury in the 3-2 win at Birmingham City last time out in the FA Cup. But Howe was able to give an encouraging injury update ahead of the game at the Etihad Stadium.
“The initial look on Dan wasn’t positive,” Howe said. “But he had a scan, the scan was good. He’s improved a lot very quickly this week, so he’ll be very close this weekend.”
Burn has been a vital player for Newcastle so far this season playing in the left-sided centre-back role in Sven Botman’s absence. Anthony Gordon and Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes have also named Burn as their ‘player of the season’ for Newcastle this campaign.
Guimaraes recently said via the Adopted Geordies podcast about Burn: “To be honest, for me, he’s our player of the season so far. I would say, between him, Lewis Hall, and [Alexander] Isak as well.”
And when asked if he agreed with that, Howe told The Gazette: “Always a tough one, but I would agree with their assessment in the sense that Dan I think has had an outstanding season.
“I think whenever you’re in my shoes you’re looking for reliability, you’re looking for consistency, you’re looking for people that are always there when you need them in the difficult moments, not just the good times and I think Dan’s has all those qualities.
“His training performances every day mirror how he’s played on a matchday, which again is another key thing for me, I’m looking for that attitude in training to drive standards, to drive the culture. He’s certainly one of those players and that’s why if he were to be missing for a period of time that would be a hammer blow for us, so fingers crossed that won’t be the case.”
Sven Botman remains a major doubt for the match at Manchester City while Anthony Gordon is expected to be back available. Harvey Barnes is nearing a return while Jamaal Lascelles and Joelinton remain out with knee injuries.
