Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff suffered a painful foot injury in the 4-1 win at Everton.
Longstaff was hurt after a bad tackle by James Tarkowski at Goodison Park and needed to be taken off. It now means he will miss the game against Southampton today and is a doubt for the remaining fixtures.
Longstaff has been a mainstay in Eddie Howe’s team this season after signing a new contract last term. The Tarkowski tackle controversially did not lead to a penalty at Goodison despite a VAR review.
It remains to be seen whether he returns in the next game against Arsenal, but Eddie Howe said after the Southampton win: “Sean picked up a knock on his foot. We sent him for an X-ray and there’s no break or fracture, so we just hope it’s bad bruising. He wasn’t able to perform for us today, but he’ll hopefully be back very soon."
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Longstaff has played 40 games this season for Newcastle, scoring three times from midfield. But it looks like a period of rest and recovery ahead of pre-season after suffering a late season blow.
Longstaff has been a key member of Howe's side this season and was a huge miss in the 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa. Speaking after the Everton win, Howe said: “I couldn’t work out whether Sean was saying that he wanted to come off or whether he wanted to stay on. In the end, he said he needed to come off, but fingers crossed it’s not too bad."
Longstaff was full of praise for his manager recently, crediting Howe for 'saving' his Newcastle career. “He is someone I will be forever grateful to and he has saved my Newcastle career in a way," Longstaff said.
“We have a really good relationship and I trust him and I hope he is starting to trust me more and more with my performances. I have been playing quite a bit."
