Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope out long-term due to shoulder injury

Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope was helped off the pitch by medical staff after picking up an injury during the 1-0 win over Manchester United at St. James' Park. Credit: PA

Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope is expected to be out for "around four months" and will require surgery on a dislocated shoulder.

The 31-year-old was substituted during the final minutes of Saturday's 1-0 Premier League victory over Manchester United at St James' Park.

The England international's injury worsens head coach Eddie Howe's injury dilemma and leaves his squad even lighter.

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Addressing Pope's injury, Howe said: "We anticipate he'll be operated on - there's no doubt he needs an operation so he'll be out for a period of time.

"The operation hasn't happened yet, but we're thinking roughly around four months so a big blow to us but one that we expected after the game.

"He'd been in the best form that he's been in since being at the football club.

"He's naturally down because it's at a stage where we have so many games, with huge games coming up.

"He's got the Euros ahead of him but his main determination is to come back for us.

"We were thinking of him in that situation because it was another strange injury for us, there was no reason for that to happen in that moment."

  • Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe previews his side's fixture with Everton

Pope is likely to be replaced in the lineup against Everton by Martin Dubravka. The Slovakian international has not started in the Premier League since May but was the club's first-choice goalkeeper before Pope's arrival.

“We really believe in Martin and I’ve always had that high opinion of him," Howe explained. “Yes, we brought in Nick – we wanted to build competition for places, we wanted to build a squad that we felt could really carry us to great success – but Martin is a high-class goalkeeper.

“He’s a brilliant shot-stopper himself, he’s very good with his feet and his distribution, so no hesitation about bringing Martin into the team and I hope he does really well.”

Kick-off at Goodison Park is at 7:30pm on Thursday.

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