Newcastle defender Dan Burn was rushed to hospital following a brutal collision during the first half of their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. A strong tackle from Nordi Mukiele left Burn unable to continue at the Stadium of Light, casting doubt over his availability for the Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Fulham.
The Magpies are now severely depleted at the back, with Sven Botman and Kieran Trippier already sidelined. Eddie Howe provided an update: « He was struggling to breathe at half-time. It was a big problem. Dan Burn has gone to the hospital for a check of his ribs, so hopefully he will be OK. »
Reflecting on the Wearside loss, a visibly dejected Howe admitted in his press conference: « We know how much this means and all the focus on today was huge. »
« We tried to deliver our best performance and we haven’t done that. We feel disappointed in ourselves and that we left something on the pitch and that’s a horrible feeling. »
The Newcastle boss offered no justification for the defeat, which was settled by Nick Woltemade’s unfortunate own goal. Howe acknowledged: « It was not our finest game.
« The effort was there but the quality was not. It was a game of really few chances decided by a freak goal and we could not create the opening we wanted.
« The goal came at a really bad time and was bad in its construction – Nick has not meant to do it but it has decided the game. I thought we had defended pretty well. »
Newcastle struggled to get the better of their fierce rivals, and perhaps will be bemoaning the loss of Burn, who would likely have been in position to head away a cross that striker Woltemade diverted into his own net.
But several disappointing performances saw their miserable record against Sunderland continue, having not won a Premier League match between the two sides since 2011.
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