Striker Alexander Isak is likely to be fit for Newcastle’s home game with Wolves tomorrow night.
The Sweden international missed Sunday’s FA Cup win over Bromley having sustained a minor hamstring problem in last week’s 2-0 EFL Cup victory at Arsenal.
Isak has scored in seven successive Premier League games, helping propel Newcastle up to fifth in the table, and head coach Eddie Howe is confident he will have his star man available.
Howe said: “He will be desperate to play of course. Those [goalscoring] runs I’m not too focussed on and I’m not too interested in, but I understand the individuals will care deeply about them and I’d love Alex to continue to score. I think the most important thing for me is that the team is functioning well for him and he’s functioning well for the team. The two things go hand in hand together.
“He will be there or thereabouts. We haven’t seen him train yet, but fingers crossed he will be [available]. We have to be careful, of course, but that’s why I did what I did against Arsenal, to try and protect him and make sure that we don’t lose him. He’s such a valuable player for us. Fingers crossed all being well, he’ll be fine and he’ll take his place in the team.”
Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak:
“He’ll be desperate to play of course. I’d love Alex to continue to score but the most important thing for me is the team is functioning well for him and he’s functioning well for the team. The two go hand in hand. We have looked like scoring goals… pic.twitter.com/w1ev2vNP7Y
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) January 14, 2025
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Key trio also likely to feature
Sven Botman, Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock are also likely to return.
“We’ll have a look at them again today,” Howe added. “They were left out [against Bromley] with genuine reasons, all different things, but nothing major we hope. So minor problems that we needed to settle down. Fingers crossed they’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Barnes blow
There was less positive news on winger Harvey Barnes, who is expected to miss around four weeks after damaging a thigh muscle against the League Two side.
“Harvey will be missing for a period of time,” Howe said. “We don’t think it’s a serious injury, but it will be enough to keep him out for a few weeks. I think we’re probably looking around a month. Don’t hold me to that, but that’s sort of the early assessment.
“He’s had a scan. As I said, it’s not too bad, but it will be enough to keep him out. It’s an injury to his thigh, a muscle in his thigh. He did it crossing a ball just towards the end of the first half. He felt he could carry on till half-time, but then it became apparent at half-time that he couldn’t come out for the second half.”
