Toon winger Fraser out for festive games

STEVE Bruce has conceded that he will be without Ryan Fraser for the rest of the festive period.

The Scotland winger suffered a calf injury in the narrow League Cup defeat at Brentford and missed the clash with Manchester City due to the muscle problem.

When asked if his chances of playing against Liverpool and Leicester were effectively up in smoke, Bruce suggested that Fraser could even be missing against Arsenal on FA Cup thirdround day on January 9.

Bruce said: “He hurt his groin and we’ve had an ongoing cycle with Ryan Fraser.

“He had his hamstring and his groin.

“We all know that he didn’t play. He’s got a few problems in terms of muscle.

“How long he will be? I don’t think he will make Liverpool, and the week after is a bit early as well. We will see how he is.”

Bruce was also without Paul Dummett, Jeff Hendrick and Jonjo Shelvey against City.

Offering an explanation for the absence of the senior trio, Bruce added: “Hendrick and Dummett are not well. Jonjo, as we know, had a groin operation a month or so ago. Unfortunately, he has been very sore.

“The amount of games we have been playing is there for all to see but we took him out of the firing line to make sure he’s ready and to make sure he can recover properly.

“It has been a difficult time for him in terms of his groin.”

A big plus against City was the surprise re-emergence of Fabian Schar, who has been suffering with Covid.

Bruce said: “I have been shooting in the dark a little bit. For example, I didn’t think Fab Schar would be available.

“He trained for a couple of days and said he felt fine.”