Sandro Tonali injury update after Italian misses Sunderland clash
Newcastle United had to face Sunderland without any of their more creative midfielders available, and it showed.
The general feeling around Newcastle is that if we have at least one of either Bruno Guimaraes or Sandro Tonali in the team, there's a good chance we can make something happen.
Unfortunately, Eddie Howe was without either of his 'technicians' when Newcastle took on Sunderland at St James' Park on Sunday, and, well, you know what happened next.
Bruno confirmed after the game on Sunday that he has contracted mumps, which could impact his recovery from his hamstring injury, while Eddie Howe said in his post-match interview that Sunday's game came too quickly for Tonali.
Howe and Gattuso on Tonali
Sandro Tonali picked up a hip injury in the game against Barcelona in midweek, but after an MRI scan on Thursday, there was hope that it wasn't too serious and the Italian could be involved on Sunday.
The fact that he didn't withdraw from the Italy squad was also seen as a good sign, but when Sunday came around, and Tonali rocked up at St James' Park in casual attire, we knew something was up.
Eddie Howe confirmed that he wasn't quite ready to play, but there were no further concerns.
“No, not a longer-term problem but it was too quick a turnaround probably by a couple of days for him for this game.“We missed our technicians today, Bruno [Guimaraes], Lewy [Miley] , Sandro all a very similar profile of player.
"We didn't have any of them and that meant our midfield was reshuffled and the lads did their best, but I think we missed their qualities.”
As for Gattuso, the Italy boss told the media that Tonali will train today with a “low workload.”
This suggests he still isn’t quite right, as Howe said, but Newcastle will be angered if he’s pushed too soon by Italy staff given he wasn’t fit enough to feature in the derby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYj_CmFZhc8
Sandro will still link up with Italy squad
What's perhaps more annoying for Newcastle fans is that Tonali will now link up with the Italy squad as they try to book their place in the World Cup via the play-offs.
With a World Cup place on the line, Italy aren't going to want to rest key players to preserve their club status as they may do if it were a meaningless friendly, so we expect to see Tonali in action for his country over the break.
We just hope that they don't try to rush him into anything and give him the time he needs to heal, and then of course, he comes through any games unscathed, especially given our concerns over whether Bruno will be ready to face Crystal Palace after the break.
