Eddie Howe is hopeful Joe Willock has avoided a serious ankle injury, having been carried off on a stretcher during Newcastle United’s 1-0 friendly defeat to a K League XI.

Newcastle’s worrying pre-season continued with a narrow loss to a team made up of K League stars in Suwon, as Kim Jin-Gyu scored the only goal in the 36th minute.

Kim cut inside the backtracking Jamaal Lascelles before finishing past Nick Pope as a strong Newcastle team struggled to impose themselves on the contest.

Indeed, Newcastle finished Wednesday’s game with fewer shots (13 to 15) than their opponents, while only narrowly edging the expected goals (xG) battle (1 to 0.93).

And Howe – who was again without wantaway striker Alexander Isak as he pushes for a move to Liverpool – had another concern to deal with in second-half stoppage time.

Midfielder Willock was carried off on a stretcher after throwing himself into a 50-50 challenge and was replaced by 19-year-old Alfie Harrison, meaning Newcastle now have just four senior midfielders available after selling Sean Longstaff to Leeds United.

Asked about Willock’s condition after the game, Howe told reporters: “I don’t have a major update yet, but it didn’t look great on the pitch.

“At this moment, it doesn’t look like a major, major injury. And fingers crossed it’s not, because Joe has suffered enough. Hopefully he’s okay.”

Willock is forced off and is replaced by Harrison.

[1-0] 90′ pic.twitter.com/2ZvYE10wvN

— Newcastle United (@NUFC) July 30, 2025

Willock appeared in 32 of Newcastle’s 38 Premier League fixtures last season, logging 1,074 minutes in total, while he also came off the bench in their EFL Cup final victory over Liverpool in March.

Howe also reiterated that Newcastle are yet to receive a formal offer from Liverpool for Isak, with the Reds believed to be readying a bid after selling Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich.

Howe said on Tuesday that the future of Isak, who netted 23 goals in the Premier League last season, was not fully in his control.

Liverpool have already spent over £260m on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giorgi Mamardashvili during the current transfer window, as they look to build on last season’s Premier League title win.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are close to signing Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale on an initial loan deal, having seen primary target James Trafford rejoin Manchester City.