Newcastle United defender Paul Dummett has been hit with a fresh hamstring injury which has seen him miss out on an international call-up.
Dummett was expected to meet up with the Wales side but manager Ryan Giggs revealed that the 27-year-old has struggled to recover after picking up the injury in Newcastle’s final game of the season against Fulham.
Giggs also confirmed in his squad announcement as quoted by the Shields Gazette, that the injury has been troubling the Welshman ever since the final day victory and that it was the right to explore other options in his squad, such as Neil Taylor and Ben Williams, saying: “Paul came off in the last game with a hamstring injury. That’s been troubling him and he just doesn’t feel right really.”
The season end has come at a good time to allow Dummett to rest the ongoing problem which also kept him out for a month at the beginning of the Premier League season.
OPINION
This is obviously disappointing news for Newcastle, Wales and Paul Dummett but every cloud does have a silver-lining as they say. The fact that this setback was suffered on the final day means that the 27-year-old will have a full summer to repair, even if it does mean missing out on featuring for his country in June. Dummett can now fully concentrate on coming back as fit as ever, especially with this being a reoccurring problem he has suffered throughout the campaign. If he risked playing more football, then the problem could escalate into something much more serious and the summer break gives the defender the perfect opportunity to make it right, ready for the next Premier League season. Dummett has excelled under Rafael Benitez in the second half of the season after moving into the heart of a back-five and has been a key member of the resurgence which saw his side reach mid-table after relegation fears at the start of the season.