Florian Lejeune on crutches and wearing protective cast after coming off injured on Newcastle debut in defeat to Tottenham
FLORIAN LEJEUNE was pictured on crutches with a cast on his leg after coming off injured in Newcastle's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham.
The £8.7million signing from Eibar had to be replaced on the half-hour mark after being fouled by Spurs striker Harry Kane.
The England man was booked for the challenge, but the news was even worse for Lejeune who couldn't continue and was replaced by Chancel Mbemba.
And as the players came out for their warm-down after the game, Lejeune was seen hobbling on crutches with the lower half of his leg in a protective cast.
Fellow defender Paul Dummett also came off injured after just seven minutes, and with Rafa Benitez failing to bring in the number of players he wanted this summer, there will be some concern with the squad depth.
Goals from Dele Alli and Ben Davies gave Mauricio Pochettino a comfortable win at St James’ Park, more than eradicating the memory of their 5-1 thrashing when Newcastle said farewell to the top flight two years ago.
It was the ease of Spurs’ victory which will concern Newcastle boss Benitez who saw midfielder Jonjo Shelvey sent off for a mindless stamp on Alli after he had already been forced to replace two injured defenders before half-time.
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Shelvey, who was Benitez’s last signing for Liverpool seven years ago and a major contributor in Newcastle’s promotion last season, clearly stood on Alli’s leg deliberately after an innocuous foul three minutes into the second-half.
The former Swansea midfielder now faces a three-match ban which the stretched Newcastle squad can ill afford.
