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‘Lightning quick’ player absent from Newcastle United training ahead of Nottingham Forest clash
James Rutherford
3 – 4 minutes
Eddie Howe will be tempted to change his Newcastle United team against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Newcastle’s performance against Manchester City was ‘unacceptable’, with the Magpies falling to a 4-0 defeat.
It really was a rotten display, so much so that Eddie Howe only praised Lewis Miley.
He is one player pushing to start against Nottingham Forest, as well as Tino Livramento and Nick Pope. The goalkeeper situation is delicate at the moment, with Ben Foster suggesting Martin Dubravka should be dropped.
Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Newcastle United defender misses training
One position where there is unlikely to be any changes is centre-back.
Fabian Schar and Dan Burn struggled against Manchester City, but appear to be on course to retain their place in the starting XI.
That is because Sven Botman has not been seen in training ahead of the Magpies’ clash with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Newcastle United have released training photos from Wednesday’s session, and there is no sign of Sven Botman.
The Dutch defender has missed Newcastle’s previous two games with a knee issue, but Howe says Botman’s injury is not long-term.
An injury update from Eddie Howe:
“Anthony [Gordon] should be fine; he has trained this week. It was a thigh problem, but he has responded well to treatment over the weekend.
It’s good news on Sven’s [Botman] scan, no long-term issue. Short term still some pain, we think he… pic.twitter.com/x4YFvcHZeD
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 14, 2025
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It remains to be seen if the 25-year-old will return this weekend. While Botman did not train on Wednesday, there will be at least a couple more opportunities for him to prove his fitness ahead of Sunday afternoon’s game at St James’ Park.
Elsewhere, Joelinton was also absent from training. The Brazilian is also suffering from a knee injury, but Joelinton will hopefully be fit for the Carabao Cup final on March 16th.
Why Newcastle United miss Sven Botman so much
Botman has only made five Newcastle United appearances this season after recovering from an ACL injury.
However, he has been impressive upon his return. The giant centre-back was outstanding in both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final, as the Magpies booked their return to Wembley.
While Burn and Schar have played very well this season, Botman offers something different. They both lack pace, whereas Botman has great recovery speed.
Sean Longstaff thinks Botman is ‘lightening quick’, and he certainly is in comparison to Burn and Schar. Their lack of pace was exposed last weekend, as Manchester City relentlessly played balls over the top of the Toon defence.
Nottingham Forest could take a similar approach this weekend, with Nuno Espirito Santo boasting the speed of Anthony Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White.
