Newcastle star Anthony Gordon is facing a scan after suffering a groin injury in training on the eve of 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.
It remains to be seen whether he will be back in time for the Carabao Cup tie against the Blues on Wednesday at St James’ Park but as thing stand he is classed as a doubt. This, after Eddie Howe just got Alexander Isak back from a toe injury.
When asked about Gordon’s absence at Stamford Bridge, Howe told Chronicle Live: “Anthony felt his groin in training yesterday. We hope it is not serious but he will go for a scan tomorrow.”
On a day in which his replacement Miguel Almiron did little to stake his claim, Howe may have to think long and hard how he approaches the Carabao Cup game. Despite being cautious on giving William Osula an opportunity from the start in big games, he may be left with few decent options with a rejig of his frontline possible.
Howe tried to stay positive ahead of the cup clash on a weekend in which his team slumped to the bottom half of the table.
He said: “The majority of it I liked. It was a strong performance, coming here you know it is going to be a difficult game. Especially when you concede relatively early in the match. It was a big moment for us in terms of our response, I thought that was really strong.
“We scored a great goal ourselves. We weren’t perfect in our performance, we lost the game. But I feel the team is moving in the right direction. We just made a couple of mistakes that cost us today.”
Speaking about Isak’ miss, Howe said: “Of course, you are frustrated because it is a great chance to score. Whenever you slow something down it looks clear. But in that moment Alex is moving at 100mph and making split second decisions. I thought Joey was there to tap it in for us but it wasn’t to be.
“Alex’s general game was very good. He scored a great goal a good team goal that will do him the world of good. He had another chance with a header and in the last couple of weeks he is now beginning to get the chances his game deserves.”
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