Newcastle United star ‘a huge miss’ after injury blow - doubt for Arsenal match

The 3-1 win over Southampton last time out was the first time Longstaff hadn’t featured for Newcastle in a match this season, leaving Trippier as the only player to have played every game. Longstaff picked up a foot injury that forced him off against Everton and sat out the following match which saw The Magpies go behind against Southampton before turning things around in the second half.

Longstaff’s work-rate in midfield was also missed against Aston Villa last month as he dropped to the bench after suffering with illness before being introduced in the second half. United lost the match 3-0.

“Longy is a huge miss and it’s there for everybody to see,” Trippier told The Gazette. “We missed his energy in the first half against Southampton and the way he gets around the pitch and covers ground.

“We missed him but there’s players who stepped in and did a job. Anthony Gordon came in and had a good first half, he got taken off but it was nothing personal just the manager had to change something.”

Longstaff is set to be back in contention for Sunday’s Premier League match against Arsenal at St James’ Park (4:30pm kick-off) but has missed training through the week.

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said in his pre-match press conference on Friday: “Sean’s okay. He’s improved. He hasn’t trained yet, so we’re hoping, either today or tomorrow, he will.”

Players like Longstaff had previously struggled in a side battling against relegation, now they are shining in a side striving for Champions League qualification. And with Newcastle currently sitting third in the Premier League table with five games remaining, Trippier has praised the core group of long-serving first-team players who have been able to raise their levels since his arrival in January 2022. “Even when I first signed, you look [Jacob] Murphy, Joelinton, Miggy [Almiron], Wils [Callum Wilson], Longy, Fabian [Schar], I’m probably missing someone, but they all deserve huge credit because of how they reacted to a difficult moment.

“Of course the coaching helps by the manager and the staff but these players deserve huge credit because if you look back to last January when me, Burny [Dan Burn] and the other lads signed to now, the lads have taken huge steps and that’s a positive thing.”