Newcastle United defender Sven Botman has dodged ACL surgery in order to continue playing for Eddie Howe’s club.
Eddie Howe has praised Sven Botman’s determination to recover from an ACL injury in just three months and rejoin Newcastle United’s Premier League and FA Cup challenge this season.
The Dutchman confessed last week that he’d been playing with an ACL injury, which is usually fatal for many athletes who suffer such a setback. Now, his head coach, Howe, is keen to see if he can avoid surgery before the end of the season.
Botman has continued to play despite the fact that luminaries such as Barcelona’s Gavi and Liverpool’s Joel Matip were told their seasons were ended after sustaining a similar injury. But Howe has nothing but admiration for the ex-Ajax player.
“He’s worked hard with the physios through rehab,” Howe added. It was up in the air whether he’d need surgery on that knee.But let’s hope he doesn’t. He looked great (at Liverpool) and scored a great goal. I’m hoping he gets better with each performance now because it’s been a while without him and he’s such an essential player.”
“I did my knee against Brentford but then played two games after that (without realising),” Botman told Sky Sports. It blew up the day after the Sheffield United game, and a scan revealed significant injury to my knee.”
