Eddie Howe has confirmed that Sven Botman is set to undergo knee surgery and will be sidelined for eight weeks, but the news on Alexander Isak is far more positive.
Mail Sport revealed on Wednesday that Botman needed an operation and would miss the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on March 16.
The good news for the defender is that the problem is in the opposite knee to the ACL injury that kept him out for 10 months before his comeback in January.
The 25-year-old appeared five times before picking up a knock in the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final win over Arsenal a month ago. It was hoped he would have returned by now, but a specialist opinion has advised that surgery is necessary.
Botman’s loss comes on the back of Anthony Gordon’s red card during last weekend’s FA Cup defeat by Brighton – keeping him out of Wembley – and Lewis Hall being ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury.
‘It’s not been the best of weeks!’ said Howe, before explaining Botman’s situation. ‘We’ve been trying to get Sven back to full fitness, and the day before the Brighton game he felt the same problem in his knee. This week he has felt discomfort. It has come from a knock. He didn’t feel it was a big issue. He just needs a small operation to clear out some fluid and then he’ll be fine again.
Sven Botman will miss the Carabao Cup final after being ruled out for eight weeks due to injury
Alexander Isak went off with fatigue on Sunday, but has been able to train normally this week
Eddie Howe is set to have his talismanic striker available for the showpiece at Wembley
‘Eight weeks is sort of the timeline, so that should give him time to get games in before the end of the season. Whenever you have a really minor operation, there’s always a slight unknown.’
Isak was withdrawn in the second half of the 2-1 defeat by Brighton, leading to fears that the 22-goal frontman could also be a doubt for Monday’s trip to West Ham and the final.
But Howe said: ‘Alex is fine. Sunday, when he came off, he was feeling a bit fatigued towards the end of the game, some tightness in his body. He has trained every day and he’s good.’
Is he fit enough to start at West Ham?
‘Fingers crossed, yeah,’ said Howe. ‘As I said, if he is fit, he will play, because that is the best way to get him in the best physical condition for future games.
‘Footballers are finely tuned athletes and when they are ready to play, they have to play. You have to give them that opportunity. Fingers crossed Alex will be fine. I understand the intense sort of speculation and spotlight on him, but the best thing we can do is just relax and let him play his football.’
