Newcastle United have reportedly been hit with another devastating injury blow ahead of their EFL Cup final showdown with Liverpool.
The Magpies will be regarded as underdogs when they walk out at Wembley Stadium where they will endeavour to end the club's 70-year trophy drought.
Their task to overcome Premier League champions-elect Liverpool has been made all the more difficult now that winger Anthony Gordon will miss the final through suspension following his straight red card in the FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
Newcastle then confirmed on Wednesday that left-back Lewis Hall will miss the rest of the season after sustaining an injury to a bone in his foot which requires surgery.
Now, Eddie Howe appears to have suffered a third major blow in the space of a few days as one of his first-team stars is believed to be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
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Botman set to miss rest of season with knee injury?
According to the Daily Mail, centre-back Sven Botman is nursing a knee injury and has been advised to undergo surgery after seeing a specialist on Tuesday.
The report adds that the full length of the Dutchman's absence will be known in the 'coming days' but he will miss the EFL Cup final against Liverpool on March 16.
Newcastle are said to not be taking any risks with Botman, who has not featured for the Magpies since the EFL Cup semi-final second-leg win over Arsenal on February 5, and the 25-year-old could now miss the rest of the season.
The news about Botman's latest injury setback comes as a huge blow for both Newcastle and the player, who only returned from a 10-month ACL layoff in January.
Botman's new injury is believed to be on his opposite knee and there is said to be hope that it is not as serious as his previous long-term problem.
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Problems mounting for Howe ahead of EFL Cup final
Following Newcastle's defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup, Howe gave his first-team squad a couple of days off to rest, giving some of those the opportunity to recover from injury and avoid "big problems" developing.
Speaking prior to reports emerging about Botman's injury, Howe told Chronicle Live: "We've got a couple of injury problems developing that we hope don't turn into big problems for us because that would be really tough for us to manage, because we don't have the strength and depth that we need.
"We need to try and keep as many players as fit as possible but pick our general performances back up to where they were a few weeks ago. We're still a very good team. We just need to get back into that with them."
There are still question marks over the fitness of star striker Alexander Isak, who has been suffering with muscle tightness and was taken off prior to extra time against Brighton.
Isak is seemingly a minor doubt for Newcastle's Premier League trip to West Ham United on Monday, along with Kieran Trippier who picked up a back problem in the second half of Newcastle's FA Cup defeat.
Meanwhile, Jamaal Lascelles has now begun light individual training on the grass after more than 12 months on the sidelines recovering from an ACL injury.
Oliver Thomas
