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Newcastle United v Athletic Club: Nick Woltemade, Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier were in training ahead of the Champions League clash on Wednesday.
Eddie Howe will be looking for a reaction from his side following Sunday’s disappointing 3-1 defeat at West Ham United. The result leaves The Magpies sitting 13th in the Premier League table with 12 points from their opening 10 games.
But things have been more encouraging in the Champions League with a valiant 2-1 defeat to Barcelona followed by a record 4-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise and a 3-0 victory over Benfica last time out in the competition.
United will be looking to make it three wins in a row in Europe and take a big step towards progressing to the knockout stages of the competition.
Howe’s side will be without the injured Tino Livramento and Yoane Wissa while Jamaal Lascelles, John Ruddy, Mark Gillespie and Harrison Ashby can’t be involved, having not been named in the club’s Champions League squad list.
Kieran Trippier missed the West Ham match on Sunday due to illness, while his replacement Emil Krafth was substituted at half-time along with Nick Woltemade and Anthony Gordon. Although Howe explained the three changes were a tactical response to his frustration with Newcastle’s first-half performance at the London Stadium, he also claimed that Gordon had a minor hip complaint.
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Newcastle United handed fitness boost ahead of Champions League tie
Trippier’s absence on Sunday caused all sorts of problems for Howe and Newcastle with Tino Livramento also unavailable.
With Krafth withdrawn at half-time, Howe put centre-back Malick Thiaw in the right-back role before switching to winger Jacob Murphy and briefly midfielder Sandro Tonali. It was as messy as Newcastle’s performance in the capital.
“Yeah, we were looking for a solution to try and make the team perform better in that position,” Howe said when asked about his changes at right-back.
“We knew going into the game it wouldn't be easy because Kieran's got such brilliant strengths that when he's missing, we miss them and he would have helped us but he wasn't here and we needed to find a different way.
“Of course, we're missing Tino [Livramento] as well, two big players. So, yeah, that's why I did what I did.”
While Howe couldn’t confirm after the West Ham game whether Trippier would be involved in the Champions League clash, the signs are positive.
Trippier was captured in a first-team training session by Sky Sports at Darsley Park on Tuesday. Gordon was also part of the group after his hip issue.
Key absence spotted
While Trippier’s presence in training was a boost after missing Sunday’s match, Newcastle were without captain Bruno Guimaraes from the session.
The Brazilian was at the training ground but Sky Sports have reported that he is suffering with a slight illness but it is hoped he will be available to feature in the Champions League clash.
Trippier, Sandro Tonali and now Guimaraes have all been hit by illness issues in recent weeks.
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