Newcastle United ‘forgotten man’ spotted back at St James’ Park – hasn’t played in over a year

Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman and Jacob Murphy all missed the game through injury but came into the dressing room for the post-match celebrations.    Alexander Isak headed home the only goal of the game to give Newcastle a much-needed three points in front of a sell-out crowd on Tyneside.

   Murphy has missed Newcastle’s last two games with a hamstring problem, while Kieran Trippier is out for a month with a more serious hamstring injury, which is unlikely to keep him out until after the international break in November.    Botman has been sidelined since March with an ACL injury, but various club sources suggest the defender is on track to return to action before Christmas.

   Club captain Jamaal Lascelles and Callum Wilson also missed the game with ACL and hamstring injuries, but were not pictured in the dressing room afterwards.

   But the player who stood out after his own injury problems was left-back Matt Targett.    Saturday’s game marked exactly a year since Targett last played for Newcastle when he suffered a hamstring injury in the opening minutes of the 3-0 Carabao Cup win against Manchester United.

   A hamstring problem followed by Achilles tendinitis ultimately ruled Targett out for the rest of the 2023-24 season and preseason.    After being named on Newcastle’s bench for the first three games of the 2024-25 Premier League season, the 29-year-old turned out for the Under-21s in August and played 45 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

   But eczema then further delayed Targett’s return.    It has been a month since he was last pictured at first team training.

   Last month, Howe said it was “too early” to include Targett in games.

   “It will be a bit too early for Matt [to play],” Howe told The Gazette, “he’s still very early in his training, he’s feeling good at the moment.

   “It was difficult for Matt as he was a very reliable player for us before these outings.

   “He’s someone who came in during the relegation battle and really cemented that left-back position. He was someone who consistently played at a really high level, very consistently, a really good specialist, so it was a really tough time for him  without a shadow of a doubt.

   “The time when he was injured was very frustrating for him and for us because we were missing a very good player. Matt is technically one of the best players in the team so we really missed him and we would like to get him ready on a consistent basis.

   “The last issue he had was hard to take on top of the other episodes he had, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can get him back for an extended period.” 

   Targett joined Newcastle permanently from Aston Villa in 2022 for £15m, but the club have since signed Lewis Hall in the same position, who has now established himself as the best player in Howe’s starting line-up.    Since joining the club permanently, Targett has been restricted to just seven Premier League appearances in over two years.