Eddie Howe's positive injury update after Tottenham win - and view on Sven Botman
EDDIE HOWE was delighted with Sven Botman’s return to action in today’s 2-1 win at Tottenham – and is confident the Newcastle United defender did not suffer another injury issue in the closing stages of the game.
Botman made his first appearance since March to end an absence of almost ten months after undergoing cruciate-ligament surgery.
The Dutch centre-half was beaten by Dominic Solanke as Spurs opened the scoring in the fourth minute, but recovered to produce an impressive central-defensive display as Newcastle claimed a sixth straight victory in all competitions.
Botman went down in the centre-circle at the start of stoppage-time, and hobbled off before the end of the game, but Howe has revealed the defender was suffering from cramp rather than anything more serious.
“I don’t think it was anything more than cramp for Sven,” said the Newcastle head coach. “Which was expected given the amount of time he’s been out.
“It was a great effort from him to last that long. We were unsure how long he would be able to go for, with the speed of the Premier League. But thankfully he got through the majority of the game.”
With Fabian Schar unavailable because of suspension, Howe was left with the decision of either promoting Botman straight back into the starting line-up or naming the Dutchman on the bench with Lloyd Kelly partnering Dan Burn in the starting side.
READ MORE:
Botman played the opening 45 minutes of a game with the Under-21s last month, and also featured in two behind-closed-doors training matches, and Howe was always confident he was capable of doing himself justice from the start against Spurs.
“The thinking behind it was that he had done the work,” said Howe. “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel that he was physically ready.
“He’s been very dedicated to his recovery. We’ve seen him put in an extraordinary amount of work before he started training with us, and he’s been training with us for six weeks now.
“He’s had three games and looked good in those games. Of course, he won’t be at his optimum level, but that will come in the following months. I thought he was physically ready to play, and mentally ready to play too. He’s been champing at the bit to play again.
“It was a difficult start for him and the team, with Tottenham scoring, but it was a great response and I thought he did very well.”
Anthony Gordon suffered a nasty facial cut in the second half, but Howe was able to give a positive update on the England winger.
“I think it was just a cut,” he said. “It was a nasty one, and he had blood all over him, so he did well to get back onto the pitch. Hopefully, it was nothing more than that though.”
