Newcastle United ‘forgotten man’ spotted back at St James’ Park – hasn’t played in over a year.
Newcastle United’s 1-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday saw some of the club’s lesser-spotted players in attendance at St James’ Park.
Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman and Jacob Murphy all missed the match due to injury but made their way to the dressing room for the post-match celebrations. Alexander Isak headed in the only goal of the game to see Newcastle claim a much-needed three points in front of a sell-out crowd on Tyneside.
Murphy has missed Newcastle’s last two matches due to a hamstring issue while Kieran Trippier has been out for a month with a more serious hamstring injury that is likely to keep him out until after the November international break. Botman has been out since March with an ACL injury but various club sources have suggested the defender is on course to be back in contention before Christmas.
Club captain Jamaal Lascelles and Callum Wilson also missed the match due to ACL and hamstring injuries but were not pictured in the dressing room photo afterwards.
But one player who was spotted after injury troubles of his own was left-back Matt Targett. Saturday’s game marked exactly one year since Targett last featured for Newcastle as he suffered a hamstring injury in the opening minutes of the 3-0 Carabao Cup win at Manchester United.
The hamstring issue followed by Achilles tendonitis ultimately ruled Targett out for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign and pre-season. After being named on the bench in Newcastle’s opening three matches of the 2024-25 Premier League season, the 29-year-old featured for the Under-21s back in August, playing 45 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
But an eczema flare-up then delayed Targett’s return even further. It has been a month since he was last pictured in first-team training.
Last month Howe said it was still ‘too early’ to involve Targett in matches.
“It’s going to be a little bit too early for Matt [to play],” Howe told The Gazette. “He’s still in the very early stages of training, at the moment he feels good.
“It’s been tough for Matt because previous to those spells out he had been a really reliable performer for us.
“He’s someone who came in during the relegation battle and really solidified that left-back position. He was someone who consistently played to a really high level, very consistent, a really good professional so this has been a really difficult time for him without a shadow of a doubt.
