Newcastle suffer 4-week injury blow and major Yoane Wissa boost - Report

The last thing Eddie Howe needs before a crucial, season-defining run of fixtures coming in December would be an injury crisis.

We’ve already lost key players like Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento to big injuries so far this season, and the difference in the way we play with both fullbacks on the pitch is truly night and day to when they’re absent.

A demanding December schedule will see us play three of the ‘Big Six’, our Carabao Cup quarter-final against Fulham, a crucial away trip to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, and the small matter of the Tyne-Wear derby at the Stadium of Light.

And it looks like a mixed bag of injury news for Howe, as though one senior player could be facing a month on the sidelines...

Trippier set for spell out?

According to The Mail’s Craig Hope, Kieran Trippier could be out for the next four weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in training prior to the Manchester City game.

Trippier also missed the away trip to Marseille earlier this week, and it looks like the initial hamstring concern is slightly worse than originally feared following the results of a recent scan.

Should Trippier miss the full four weeks he’s projected to, we would be without the 35-year-old not only for Saturday’s game against Everton, but also Spurs and Burnley in the league, and the two huge matches against Leverkusen and Sunderland.

Although we have now got Livramento and Hall back from injury, it's not ideal to lose another full-back in a period Trippier could've been a vital rotation option while our young English duo ease their way back in.

Wissa back in action!

In that same report, Hope also provided the most significant update yet on just when Yoane Wissa might make his long-awaited debut for us.

The Congolese forward has been in training with his teammates for the first time this week, returning to sessions with the squad on Wednesday as he steps up his recovering from a knee issue.

Though Saturday’s trip to the Hill Dickinson is still too soon for Wissa to make his maiden appearance in black and white, it’s hinted that he could be fit for the derby if he manages to make it through next week's training sessions with no pronlems.

With how much we’ve been missing a player of Wissa’s calibre and experience in the attack, the news of his impending debut is fantastic. And given he's yet to play this season and won't be rushed back over the next week, it seems increasingly unlikely that he makes DR Congo's squad for AFCON in just over two week's time.