Newcastle forward Alexander Isak suffered a recurrence of a groin injury in Wednesday’s Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, while Eddie Howe confirmed Jacob Murphy also dislocated his shoulder in what was a double blow for the Magpies.
Dortmund inflicted Newcastle’s first Champions League defeat of the season at St James’ Park but the “more disappointing” issue for Howe were the injuries to key players Isak and Murphy, who both departed the pitch early after picking up knocks.
Newcastle are also set to lose Sandro Tonali to a lengthy ban after the Italian was found to have broken betting rules, leaving Howe with a reduced squad heading into a crucial run of fixtures in both Europe and the Premier League.
“[Isak going off] was a blow for us and we had another one with Jacob [Murphy] coming off as well with what looks like a serious injury,” Howe said during a post-match interview with TNT Sports.
“That’s another difficult thing for us with such a small squad already, it’s probably the most disappointing thing for us.”
He added: “It looks like a reoccurrence of his [Isak’s] groin problem. It doesn’t look serious but it’s enough to keep him out and that’s a big blow with a player of his quality.
“With Jacob that looks more serious with a potential dislocation of his shoulder which is never a good thing to see.
Though the true extent of both injuries isn’t fully known yet, Newcastle are likely to be without either playerwhen the Magpies travel to Dortmund for the return fixture in two weeks’ time.
Newcastle are likely to be without Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy the next time they take on Borussia Dortmund— (Action Images via Reuters)
The defeat drops Newcastle down to third in Group F with PSG, who defeated AC Milan in the other match of the night, moving to the top spot and Dortmund jumping from fourth to second.
Howe’s team will now need to secure a positive result in Germany next time out and will be without two dangerous players to help the team.
“It’s going to be difficult [winning away from home] but we’re in the Champions League and nothing’s going to come easy.” Howe said about Newcastle’s next match.
“When you start the competition and go into the group that we’re in, you know you’re going to have to win at some tough places to get through the group.
“Today would have been a massive win for us, we didn’t get it but we have to dust ourselves down and when the Champions League comes back to us next week we have to be ready.
“We look at today and are frustrated we didn’t get anything from it. We didn’t deserve to lose.”
