“It has been tough” – Newcastle player opens up on ‘quite difficult’ period this season

Newcastle United’s Emil Krafth made his first start of the season in his side’s EFL Cup win over Tranmere Rovers in August.

The cup tie was the right-back’s last outing for the Magpies as he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

That forced the 28-year-old to spend time away from the pitch and he had earlier hoped to make an appearance for Newcastle before the end of this season.

The Sweden international hasn’t given up on the possibility of featuring for the Tyneside club this season. He made this claim during an interview with Fotbollskanalen.

“I don’t want to say that I’m completely out for the rest of the season. Maybe I’ll have time to play a game, maybe not. But it’s not the whole world for me if I don’t have time to play, the most important thing is that everything feels good. I want to feel that everything is going as it should, so that there are no setbacks,” he said.

It’s been close to six months since Krafth last played and he’s not rushing to get back on the pitch. The injury was the Swede’s first major setback of his career and he has now opened up on the rehabilitation process.

“Although I have gradually started to be able to do more, I couldn’t do any cardio at all for the first three months, and that was quite difficult,” Krafth explained.

“It has been a tough period to go through but as I said, now that I have been able to start running again it feels easier. Then you feel that you are getting closer.”

Kieran Trippier has cemented his place as Newcastle’s first-choice right-back this season. Therefore, it won’t be easy for Krafth to beat the England international for a place in Eddie Howe’s starting XI.