NEWCASTLE are in crisis after Dan Burn suffered a punctured lung to leave Eddie Howe with just four fit senior defenders.
Newcastle’s club-record £65million star Nick Woltemade became the most-expensive player to score for Sunderland as his own goal secured bragging rights for the Black Cats on Sunday.
It was a miserable day all-round for the Mags – whose performance was labelled “embarrassing” and a “mess” by Bruno Guimaraes – with defender Burn also suffering a nasty blow.
The Geordie giant was forced off after Sunderland’s Nordi Mukiele’s knee caught him in a sliding challenge.
The England international was taken to hospital by ambulance after complaining of breathing difficulties.
Now SunSport has learned that he suffered both a punctured lung and a cracked rib which could sideline him for up to ten weeks.
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He is definitely out of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to Fulham and seems certain to miss the hectic festive period.
And that leaves Howe with a huge defensive headache.
Fellow centre-halves Sven Botman, who has a back issue, and Jamaal Lascelles are still out.
That leaves him with only Fabian Schar, who replaced Burn on Sunday, and Malick Thiaw as centre-backs and inexperienced Alex Murphy, 21, as backup.
However, those are just two of FOUR fit senior defenders he has at his disposal.
Full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall will almost certainly need to continue as both Kieran Trippier and Emil Krafth are also still sidelined with no experienced cover.
Meanwhile, Woltemade has thanked the Toon Army for their support after his derby nightmare.
The 6ft 6in German striker, who only touched the ball 12 times and completed two passes, received an ironic standing ovation from Sunderland fans when he was replaced by Yoane Wissa on 74 minutes.
Video footage then showed him receiving more stick from home fans as a security guard accompanied him out of the ground and onto the team bus.
He finally broke his silence following his ordeal on Instagram, writing: “Derby day hits different, This one hurt a lot. Thanks for all the positive messages Geordies.”
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