ALEXANDER ISAK and Sven Botman both emerged from Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup win at Arsenal nursing injury issues – but Eddie Howe is hoping that neither player suffered a serious setback at the Emirates.

Newcastle took a giant step towards securing their second League Cup final appearance in the space of three seasons as goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon secured a two-goal advantage ahead of the second leg on Tyneside on February 5.

But the win came at something of a cost with Isak and Botman both suffering injury scares that will be assessed in the next couple of days.

Isak was withdrawn midway through the second half after complaining of a hamstring problem, while Botman was almost replaced at the half-time interval after suffering tightness in his groin. The Dutch centre-half managed to complete the game, but was in discomfort after the final whistle.

“We had a difficult half-time,” said Howe. “There were a few players at half-time feeling different things, so that was a tough 15 minutes because we knew the importance of the second half.

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“Alex was feeling his hamstring a little bit, and Sven was feeling a groin. We had a couple of other players struggling too, so we had to manage things.”

Botman started last night’s game just four days after making his first appearance for almost ten months in Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Tottenham.

The Dutchman performed superbly to help Newcastle keep a clean sheet, making a sensational block in his own six-yard box in the first half and repelling a series of balls into the box as Arsenal tried to claw their way back into the game in the second period.

Howe is hoping his groin issue is not too serious, with his last two performances having highlighted just what Newcastle were missing when he was completing his recovery from cruciate-ligament surgery.

“He was just feeling his groin,” explained the Magpies head coach. “He felt that he was able to continue, and with him and the medical staff, we felt that he was able to go out for the second half.

“You wouldn’t have known that there was any issue with him, but I think he was naturally fatigued. For him to play in the way that he has in the last two games, after so long out, in such a tight turnaround, was hugely impressive.

“I think it just shows where Sven is mentally. He was a warrior for us in our Champions League season, and we’ve really, really missed him. I’m delighted with how he’s done, and he deserves all the plaudits for that.”