"Very close" - Eddie Howe reveals good and bad news on two Newcastle players

A much-needed win in the Premier League came with two pieces of mixed news on the injury front yesterday.

It's been a bruising few weeks, with Tino Livramento ruled out until late November, Fabian Schar sitting out of three games due to concussion protocols and Yoane Wissa suffering a setback on his recovery from a knee issue.

And, following Sunday's 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, Eddie Howe shared some good and bad news on two other players absent through injury.

Ramsey set to return

Despite concerns around Lewis Hall's hamstring issue, Eddie Howe was happy to report some positive injury news after Sunday's game on Jacob Ramsey, confirming he is on the brink of a return to full fitness.

Since suffering an ankle injury in the 0-0 draw at Leeds, we’ve been missing Ramsey for the past five weeks, but the boss seems confident he'll "ready to play" after the break ahead of some huge games in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.

“Very close (to playing again).

"He trained for two days in the buildup to today’s game, but I didn’t want to push him too early.”

“By the international break comes around, hopefully he’d have done a lot more training and be ready to play.”

It was suggested he'd make yesterday's game, but it sounds like he'll use the international break to ensure he is ready for a busy first week back against Brighton (18th), Benfica (21st) and Fulham (25th).

Worrying Hall quotes

Dan Burn again deputised at left back on Sunday, and it looks like the boy from Blyth will be there at least the next few weeks after Lewis Hall suffered an injury setback.

It was reported just prior to kick off that Hall had suffered a hamstring injury, explaining his absence from the squad, but more details emerged after the game from Eddie Howe:

“He felt his hamstring against Union, which was a real blow for us. We’ve been trying to manage him back. Unfortunately he just felt something in that game. We’ve had it scanned.

“Before we get conclusive evidence of how long he’ll be out, he needs another re-scan in about 10 days. So it’s not going to be a short-term injury. We hope it’s not going to be a long-term injury, but we sort of don’t know yet.”

It’s a big blow to us in terms of depth, as Kieran Trippier is already deputising for Tino Livramento at right back, which is leaving us very thin on both flanks at the moment.

Though this would present a good opportunity for one of Alex Murphy and Leo Shahar to emerge as options for Howe in the midst of this fullback injury crisis, with Matt Targett on loan at Middlesbrough and Lloyd Kelly also gone following his switch to Juventus.