“The coach trusts me very much” – Newcastle United player says Howe ‘taking it easy’ with him due to injury

Newcastle United defender Emil Krafth has admitted Eddie Howe is taking it easy on him at the moment, because of his injury issues.

The full-back has been speaking to Aftonbladet about his situation at Newcastle, having found himself back in the first team in recent weeks.

The 29-year-old has only managed 12 appearances and featured in 17% of the available minutes in the league for Newcastle this season.

He’s been featuring regularly in recent weeks as Newcastle have dealt with various injuries, though, playing 90 minutes in all of the last four games and 61 minutes over the two games before that.

It’s a big change for a player who had spent the three games before that sat on the bench unused and managed just two, one-minute appearances between December and March.

That’s largely been because of his injury history, with ankle injuries having seem him miss over 200 games earlier on his Newcastle career and him spending 342 days on the treatment table with a cruciate ligament tear between August 2022 and 2023.

And he admits that remains a concern for Howe, who is taking it easy on him despite handing him minutes of late.

“I think it feels very good. The more minutes you play, the more comfortable you become,” he said.

“The coach trusts me very much. He’s taken it easy on me because of the injury, but it hasn’t been anything weird really. It’s just been going out and trying to do your own thing.”

Given Newcastle United’s injury woes this season, it’s no surprise Eddie Howe is being cautious.