Newcastle dealt season-ending injury blow amid race for Champions League

Eddie Howe has some injury issues to deal with as Newcastle bid to secure their place in the Champions League next season with four games remaining after a win over Ipswich

Eddie Howe has revealed that Newcastle United could be without defender Matt Targett for the rest of the season. The blow sees the Magpies stretched at the full-back positions as they bid to secure their place in the Champions League next term.

Newcastle sit in third place in the Premier League, with the top five set to qualify for Europe’s premier competition. Howe’s side will hope to maintain their advantage over Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa but Nottingham Forest can overtake their rivals with three points against Brentford later this week.

And former Bournemouth Howe, who returned to the sideline against Ipswich following his own health issue, is set to enter the final four matches of the season with some injury problems. Joelinton missed out on Newcastle’s match against the Tractor Boys, while Lewis Hall remains out of contention for the remainder of the season.

It sees Kieran Trippier, Tino Livramento and Emil Krafth as the club’s recognised full-backs, none who naturally play on the left. Dan Burn has often played the role in the past but is deputising at in the centre of defence amid injuries to the likes of Sven Botman, nearing a return, and Jamaal Lascelles.

Howe has been unable to call upon Targett for much of the season and the ex-Southampton has recorded just 19 minutes of Premier League action this term. After coming off the bench little over a week ago however, the news Targett has suffered a hamstring injury will come as a bitter blow.

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“We also lost Matt Targett this week to a slight hamstring problem,” Howe told NUFC TV. “Again nothing serious but maybe enough to end his season.”

The left-back, whose contract expires in 2026, has persistently struggled with issues over the last 12 months. Targett suffered a hamstring injury in November 2023 before tearing his achilles later that same season.

The 29-year-old was then unable to participate in Newcastle’s pre-season as he continued his recovery before returning to action in August. Targett’s season continued to be disrupted however as he suffered an eczema flare-up which then prevented him from being a competitive option.

Howe remains focused on earning a place in the Champions League after Newcastle bounced back from a defeat to Aston Villa. “It will go down to the wire,” he said.

“The important thing today was that we bounced back from last week. We have been very consistent and now we have four huge games. When you’re running out of games as we are, you want to get back into the positions that you want to be in,” he added.

“We know how tight it is, we know the quality of clubs we’re competing again, but all we can do is try to win our games and it was a big step forward.”

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