Pope was forced off late on against Manchester United (Picture: Getty)
Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope is facing ‘four to five months out’ with a shoulder injury.
The England international suffered the injury in the closing stages of Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United with Martin Dubravka coming onto replace him for the final minutes.
Eddie Howe provides a bleak update after the win at S James’ Park, suggesting the Magpies no1 may have to undergo surgery.
According to the Daily Telegraph, initial assessments suggest Pope could now be ruled out for most of the 2023-24 campaign. A five-month lay off could potentially see him return for the season-run in where Newcastle will hope to be involved in the chase for major honours.
Howe, speaking about his goalkeeper’s injury after the victory against United, told the BBC: ‘It looks bad. It looks like a dislocation.
‘He’s done it before and had it operated on and come back successfully. But I don’t know what the future holds for him, I don’t know if he will need an operation or not, but we will get it checked out and fingers crossed he will be back soon.’
Asked about Pope on TNT Sports, Howe added: ‘It will be a massive blow for us if he is ruled out for any length of time.
Pope suffered a similar injury in 2018 (Picture: Getty)
‘It looked really innocuous, but that is usually the way and they are normally the more serious ones.
You could see he was in distress and it looked like he dislocated his shoulder just diving.’
People previously suffered a dislocated shoulder in July 2018 during a Europa League qualifier while at Burnley, not returning to action until January 2019.
Dubravka and Loris Karius are Newcastle’s reserve goalkeepers, with the latter coming into the side for last season’s Carabao Cup final against United with Pope serving a suspension.
Newcastle, who leapfrogged United in the table with victory on Saturday, are in action away to Everon midweek before heading to Tottenham on Sunday.
They then host Milan in their final Champions League group stage match on Wednesday 12 December.
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Newcastle may need a replacement in January.