EDDIE Howe says it's too early to determine whether Newcastle might need to dip into the transfer market for a central defender this week in the wake of Sven Botman suffering an injury against Liverpool.

Botman hobbled off in the final stages of the defeat to Liverpool, with Howe confirming afterwards the centre-half had suffered an ankle injury.

Howe has previously said the capture of Lewis Hall from Chelsea would be Newcastle's final arrival of the summer, but asked whether he might be tempted to bring in another central defender after the Botman blow, he said: "We'll have to wait and see, speak to the medical team and see how bad the injury is.

"It looks like an ankle problem, I don't know how bad it is at this stage."

Howe opted to leave new recruit Hall out of the matchday squad for the visit of Liverpool, saying: "He's trained with us but he's not played a game during pre-season so he's some way short of being match fit."

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