Sven Botman to miss Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley
NEWCASTLE UNITED’S preparations for the Carabao Cup final have suffered yet another huge blow with Sven Botman having become the latest player to be ruled out of the Wembley showdown with Liverpool.
Skipper Jamaal Lascelles was joined on the absentee list by Anthony Gordon at the weekend, with the winger picking up a straight red card in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton that rules him out of the final a week on Sunday.
Lewis Hall became the third senior player to be ruled out of facing Liverpool earlier this week when it was confirmed he had suffered a season-ending injury in the league defeat at Anfield at the end of last month.
Now Botman will also miss the final after a meeting with a specialist determined that surgery would be needed to resolve his latest knee problem.
The Dutch centre-half saw a specialist on Tuesday after suffering more knee trouble, and is now set for an operation that will mean he will play no part in the final against Liverpool.
An exact timetable for his recuperation is yet to be finalised, but there is a chance that, like Hall, he could be sidelined for the remainder of the season. Whatever happens, he will not be featuring at Wembley.
Botman has had a horrendous time with injuries in the last two years as he was sidelined for ten months after undergoind ACL surgery in the second half of last season.
He returned to action in January, and started three league games and both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final with Arsenal, but complained of pain in his knee in the wake of the second-leg victory over the Gunners.
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His latest problem is understood to involve the opposite knee to the one that was operated on last year, but the fact he has now suffered two major knee issues in succession is an obvious source of concern.
He had missed Newcastle’s last five matches, but had been working on the training ground in the hope that he might have been close to a competitive return and potentially been available to make the squad at Wembley.
The continued presence of discomfort was a concern though, hence the decision to seek the advice of a specialist earlier this week.
With Botman and Hall both missing, Eddie Howe’s defensive options for the final are threadbare. Fabian Schar and Dan Burn will almost certainly have to start at centre-half, provided they come through Monday’s league game at West Ham unscathed, meaning Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento will fill the full-back berths.
