Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has suffered a fresh injury setback, with his recovery from an operation on his heel set to keep him out of action until December.
Dubravka has been out of action with a heel injury that he picked up in August whilst in his native Slovakia. That injury required surgery and it had been hoped that the ‘keeper could potentially have returned to action within six weeks, as per The Times.
Dubravka setback a blow for the Magpies
The Slovakia international has been a regular at St James’ Park since he arrived at the club, having been ever-present in the Premier League in the two seasons prior to this one. The 31-year-old made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the top flight last term with 140, as per premierleague.com.
However, having missed the first few weeks of the campaign, it now seems Dubravka will face further time out recovering from his heel injury. That came after the protective moon boot placed on him to aid his recovery was removed and revealed that his recovery was slower than expected, as per The Times.
In Dubravka’s absence, Newcastle have relied upon Karl Darlow to provide a reliable presence between the sticks and the former Nottingham Forest keeper has stepped up well so far – an inspired performance in their draw at Tottenham, in particular, has shown his worth.
Darlow will get chance to keep on impressing
So far in Newcastle’s opening four Premier League matches, Darlow has been kept busy, making the most saves in the division with 20, as per premierleague.com. He has averaged five saves per game, having kept out around 80% of the attempts he has faced.
Darlow will need to keep on impressing in this fashion if he is going to be able to make a case for himself to stay in the side when Dubravka returns. Bruce has described Dubravka as ‘outstanding’ and arguably their ‘best player’, so the English keeper will have to keep performing to keep his place in the long-term.
Geordies, is Dubravka’s place in the side under threat from Darlow? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!
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