St James’ Park stopper facing five weeks on the sidelines.
Newcastle United have been dealt a blow to their hopes of staying out of relegation trouble in the Premier League with the news that goalkeeper Tim Krul will miss the next five weeks.
Krul was on the sidelines as Newcastle United secured a crucial win at home to Southampton last weekend after suffering an ankle injury in the Europa League victory over Metalist Kharkiv three days earlier and hobbling away from Russia.
It was hoped that Dutch international Krul, who has made the number one shirt at Newcastle United his own in recent seasons as well as becoming Holland’s first choice, would not face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
But Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has revealed that the 24-year-old Krul faces up to five weeks out of action and will miss all of the club’s action in a crucial month of March.
“His ankle is still a little bit swollen,” Pardew is quoted as saying by Sportinglife. “We think maximum four weeks, five weeks, but we are hoping for less than that.”
The club’s veteran stopper Steve Harper is suffering with a back problem of his own, and Rob Elliot, who deputised against Southampton when making his Premier League debut, will continue to cover for Krul.
There will be a change in the defence in front of him at Swansea on Saturday with captain Fabricio Coloccini set to miss the trip to Wales because of a back injury. January signing Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is set to make his first start in Coloccini’s absence.