Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has confirmed that Sean Longstaff will miss the side’s clash with Liverpool after suffering a ‘freak’ injury in training.
Longstaff has started three of Newcastle’s four opening matches in the Premier League after returning from a knee ligament damage, with the Magpies sitting 14th in the table.
Matt Ritchie (ankle/foot), Allan Saint-Maximin (thigh), Andy Carroll, DeAndre Yedlin (groin/hip), Dwight Gayle (calf/shin/heel) and Florian Lejeune (knee) have also been struggling with injuries at this early stage of the season.
Longstaff injured his ankle blocking a cross in training and, while there were initial hopes he could feature at Anfield, Bruce confirmed the worst on Friday morning.
‘Unfortunately, he turned an ankle in training so won’t be in contention for Saturday,’ the Newcastle manager said.
‘It’s one of those freak injuries.
‘We won’t know how severe it is for a couple of days but it’s a bit of a blow for us.’
Ritchie returned to training earlier this week and Bruce believes the winger is ‘not too far away’ from featuring again for Newcastle’s first-team.
‘Matt’s been quite remarkable in his recovery – he’s shocked us all,’ Bruce said.
‘We weren’t expecting to see him for a couple of months, but with the way he’s trained yesterday and the day before – as long as there’s no reaction – I don’t think he’s too far away.
‘It’s still a bit early for Allan Saint-Maximin and we’re erring on the side of caution.’
On Carroll’s fitness, Bruce added: ‘Andy is going to see a specialist this afternoon but he is delighted with how it has gone so far.’
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