Eddie Howe confirms 24-year-old is going to miss Newcastle’s next five games

Eddie Howe faced the media this morning after returning from Milan as his side gears up to face Sheffield United at St James’ Park on Sunday.

As Eddie Howe spoke to the press this morning the inevitable question of injuries came up and the Newcastle gaffer confirmed that Joe Willock is still a way off a return to action.

Willock has been sidelined since the back end of last season with a hamstring injury, but then just as he was looking close to a return he picked up an achilles injury setting him back up to six weeks.

Joe Willock will be out of action until at least the end of October

That delay was again confirmed by Howe this morning who said, (via The Chronicle): “We’re still missing Joe Willock and Joelinton in midfield. Apart from that we’re pretty good. We hope with Joelinton that he could possibly be back sooner, but with Joe Willock it will definitely be after the international break.”

That means that Willock will miss at least another five games for Newcastle.

It’s a huge blow as Willock was massive for us last season, and we are missing his energy in the middle of the park this season too.

Newcastle fans can see how much Willock is missed right now

The £25million signing form Arsenal grew into last season eventually becoming a huge part of that midfield machine that drove Newcastle to success.

His relentless energy and ability to keep going until the final whistle came in clutch many times for the Magpies as did his vital goals, particularly the superb winner he grabbed against Chelsea just before the World Cup break.

There’s a lot of chatter online about how much Newcastle are missing his engine at the moment and knowing that we’ve got to get through another month before we see him on the pitch is a bitter pill to swallow.