Eddie Howe confirms Newcastle United injury concern ahead of Man Utd Carabao Cup clash

Eddie Howe has confirmed there are injury fears over one of his Newcastle United stars ahead of Wednesday night's Carabao Cup clash with Manchester United. The two Premier League big-hitters go head-to-head in a round of 16 clash that will pit last season's finalists together.

Though, much has changed since then, with Newcastle strengthening significantly on the back of their Champions League qualification, albeit they have lost big-money summer signing Sandro Tonali to a 10-month ban. Meanwhile, United also spent significantly in the summer, but they have put together a disappointing start to the campaign which continued with a heavy defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Newcastle are coming off the back of a frustrating draw with Wolves and a Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, and the latter saw them lose Alexander Isak to injury. But that's not the only injury they are nursing.

There have been claims in the media that key defender Sven Botman could be set for an extended spell on the sidelines, and speaking ahead of his team's trip to Old Trafford, Howe confirmed: "There’s an issue there and we’re working through various options to try to diagnose the exact problem. We’re still waiting for clarity on what is happening.” Howe was also asked about Newcastle's reluctance to sign a third striker during the summer, with winger Anthony Gordon the only real back-up to the now injured Isak and the more obvious replacement Callum Wilson. Hinting at the Financial Fair Play rules that Newcastle are still juggling when making signings, Howe responded: "We just didn’t have the resources to sign a third striker in the summer."