Newcastle United left-back Paul Dummett may not require an operation on the hamstring injury he sustained while playing for Wales over the international break.
Dummett was hauled off the first half against Denmark in the UEFA Nations League, but he will not have to undergo surgery in his recovery – and he may be in contention for the starting XI a lot sooner than many would have expected.
He will only have to receive treatment from the Magpies’ medical team during his recovery, and Benitez has confirmed that the first teamer will be assessed ahead of their clash with West Ham next Saturday, but will miss Monday’s trip to Burnley.
“He has had two or three hamstring injuries in the past. One needed an operation. This one is on his other leg though. He had a little problem like this before and for one week he did not train as a precaution just in case,” he said, as quoted by the Chronicle.
“There was a problem but hopefully it was not be too serious. Paul will miss the next game and we will assess him for the next one. It is a problem because it is position in which we don’t have too many players.”
OPINION
What a boost this will be if Dummett is available to play against West Ham next weekend. Even though he is ruled out of the game with Burnley on Monday, Benitez will no doubt be relieved that his injury is not as serious as first thought and that it will not have to have any surgery on it. It remains to be seen who Benitez will pick to deputise at left-back in Dummett’s absence – Javier Manquillo is thought to be in the running, but the likes of Malcolm Macdonald has tipped Ciaran Clark to switch from centre-back to play as a full-back. Like Benitez pointed out, Newcastle do not have many players in this position, another factor which will no doubt reinforce the manager’s relief at this news. Benitez ideally would not want somebody filling in for Dummett for too long – but let’s see how they cope against the Clarets in a few days’ time.