Newcastle United are down to the bare bones defensively.
Last week, it was Sven Botman who was ruled out for a significant period of time following a second serious knee injury of the season.
This week, it’s Jamaal Lascelles who has sustained an ACL injury.
When does it end?
Newcastle’s injury crisis refuses to subside and, frankly, shows little sign of improving. As such, pundit Joe Cole has even suggested it cannot be just about bad luck.
Quite where Eddie Howe goes defensively from here remains to be seen. There is little doubt their porous backline is proving a problem and could yet undermine their hopes for European qualification.
Still, perhaps the blows to Botman and Lascelles can provide Lewis Hall with a fresh opportunity.
Praised for his performance in Saturday’s thrilling comeback win against West Ham by teammate Bruno Guimaraes, the teenager could be an option at left-back should Dan Burn move into central defence.
It has not been easy for Hall, who is still expected to complete a £28m move to the club on a permanent basis despite reservations about his defending at times this season.
Howe, however, has been impressed with what he’s seen from the 19-year-old on the training pitch.
How Lewis Hall is impressing Eddie Howe in training at Newcastle
Speaking after the win over West Ham and before the Premier League meeting with Everton on Tuesday, Howe said (via The Chronicle): “He made a real difference on Saturday and I thought he came on against Manchester City and did really well.
“That’s his part of the bargain, when he plays he has to do well enough to try and stay in, so he’s given me a lot of food for thought.
“It’s huge for him and it’s huge for us because he’s done an incredible amount of work behind the scenes to work on various aspects of his game, as we would with any young player.”
Lewis Hall can still offer Newcastle something this season
It would be fascinating to see how Hall deals with becoming a regular starter in the midst of an injury crisis but Howe has consistently proven he can improve players on the training pitch.
If he can yield improvements out of Hall between now and the end of the season, perhaps Newcastle already have their new starting left-back ahead of next year.
Hall certainly hasn’t had it easy but if he can impressing, perhaps it’s one less issue for the club to worry about.
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