Soccer Football - Champions League - Group F - Newcastle United v Borussia Dortmund - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - October 25, 2023 Newcastle United's Jacob Murphy reacts after sustaining an injury REUTERS/Carl Recine
Newcastle United manager has provided an update on injured midfielder Joe Willock, who limped off against Fulham.
The midfielder has already had a difficult and inconsistent season due to achilles and hamstring injuries, but he was unable to complete the game at Craven Cottage.
At his post-game press conference, Howe stated, “Joe is still feeling his achilles.” He has been experiencing this issue for some time now. We hoped he’d steadily improve. Today was a sad day for him; he did not look well and was unable to continue.
“I don’t think he was in a lot of pain, but it was enough to keep him from performing at his peak. So we made a change, and I think Elliot Anderson did well. Harvey Barnes performed admirably, as did the substitutes who came on in the last minutes. It was an outstanding performance by those who were fit.”
Howe has also hinted at what he told his players during an injury break after Martin Dubravka suffered a knock. During what became a tactical time out, Howe unloaded his rage on his stars.
“I can’t repeat what I said, but we simply needed to wake up. In this league, in the Premier League, clubs are cruel; if you are off, you will be punished,” he conceded. “We were fortunate to still be in the game at half-time.
“I think the fact that it was still 0-0 was important; we could have been out of the game.” The problem was certainly mental more than physical; we lost many duels that we should have won, and Fulham punished us heavily.
