Injuries make life tough for Newcastle United boss John Carver

Carver is down to his last FOUR fit senior specialist defenders for tomorrow’s game against Manchester City (kick-off 5.30pm).

Paul Dummett has been ruled out for up to 12 weeks with the knee injury he suffered in last week’s game against Crystal Palace.

And the blow has compounded the earlier loss of Steven Taylor for the rest of the campaign – and the decision not to recruit a defender in last month’s transfer window.

United also loaned out Davide Santon and Remie Streete to Inter Milan and Rangers – and sold Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa to AS Roma.

Midfielder Cheik Tiote and forward Siem de Jong are also battling to play again this season.

“It’s always a concern when you lose player, especially of the quality we have lost,” admitted Carver.

“You can get away with losing one or two young lads.

“There’s nothing I can do about it. If you look at the injuries – Siem, Cheik, Dummett, Taylor. Four of our big players have serious injuries, not muscle strains.

“You’d normally get one or two of those in a season – we got three in a week. It’s a bit unfortunate. It’s no good sulking or making excuses – that’s life, and we have to deal with it.”

Asked about the decision not to sign a defender in the transfer window, Carver added: “Two weeks ago we were one player away from having a fully fit squad.

“I was so excited about that. Who is to say that’s not the end of it?”

Carver will switch Daryl Janmaat to central defence if anything happens to Fabricio Coloccini or Mike Williamson.

And fit-again utility player Ryan Taylor – who has missed two years of football after twice rupturing his cruciate ligament – offers Carver welcome options.

“He has got a huge part to play, as the whole squad has, but him in particular because of the fact that I can use him in a number of different positions,” said Carver. “That’s vital to us.

“We all know – it’s not a secret – that we are short of defenders now because of the injury situation.

“But I feel that we have enough in Ryan and we can use Vurnon Anita on either side.

“We can use Daryl Janmaat as a centre-back, so we have a few options.

“But if we start losing one or two or three more, then we are in big trouble.”

Carver was trying to put a bracve face on Dummett’s injury, even though the left-back could miss the rest of the season after his clash with Yannick Bolasie.

“The good news is he doesn’t have to have an operation,” said Carver.

“But he is out for between 10 and 12 weeks.”