And while Anthony Gordon has made progress in his recovery from a hip problem, the winger remains a doubt for this weekend’s game with Pep Guardiola’s City side.
Wissa damaged his posterior cruciate ligaments during the September international break, just a few days after joining Newcastle in a £55m move from Brentford.
He did not feature with DR Congo during the current international break, as his country qualified for March’s Inter-Continental World Cup play-offs, instead remaining on Tyneside to train at Newcastle’s Darsley Park base.
He has made considerable progress over the last fortnight, but it remains to be seen when he is deemed to be ready for competitive action. He will miss Saturday’s home game with City and is not expected to be part of the squad that travels to France next week for a Champions League game in Marseille.
Gordon has a chance of featuring in both of those matches, although he will have to show signs of progress in the next couple of days to be given the green light to feature against City.
The winger dropped out of the England squad for the wins over Serbia and Albania, having injured his hip during this month’s Champions League win over Athletic Bilbao. Newcastle’s medical staff are hoping he will be able to face City, but at this stage, that is far from guaranteed.
Nick Pope is available to face City, having completed the concussion protocols that also forced him to withdraw from the England squad, so Eddie Howe faces a difficult selection choice ahead of Saturday. Aaron Ramsdale replaced Pope in the latter stages of Newcastle’s defeat at Brentford.
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Sandro Tonali is available to face City despite having missed Italy’s defeat to Norway last weekend, with Lewis Hall also pushing for a starting spot after coming off the bench in Newcastle’s defeat to Brentford and England Under-21s’ win over Slovakia last night. Tino Livramento is a much less likely starter at the weekend.
“We’ve got a bit of a mixed bag,” said Magpies boss Eddie Howe. “Anthony, we’ll wait and see – he’ll be touch and go for the game. Sandro should be fine. Nick had concussion, but he’s passed the protocols there, so he should be fine.
“But we’ve still got a few that we’re obviously nursing back. Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall, still in the early stages, although he’s [Hall] made a couple of really good appearances. Yoane Wissa is still out, but we’re starting to up his work now. So, yeah, we look in a healthier place.”
Newcastle headed into the international break sitting in 14th position after their wait for a first league away win of the season continued as they lost at the Gtech Community Stadium. They are sixth in the Champions League standings and host Fulham in the last eight of the Carabao Cup next month, but Howe accepts his side’s league form needs a marked improvement.
“It’s a difficult one because it’s not all bad,” he said, in an interview with BBC Newcastle at the Newcastle United Foundation Dinner. “Our Premier League form has not been good and our away form has not been good, but our home form has been strong, we’ve been good in the Champions League and we’re still in the Carabao Cup.
“So, it’s a mixture of things. It’s been difficult to pinpoint one thing. But certainly, we know the general performances have to improve. We’re looking for more consistency, we’re looking for more goals and we’re really just looking for a big response in this moment.
“That’s what we’re going to need because we’ve got game after game. Our schedule in the next two months is relentless, so we can’t allow any negative trend to continue. It’s a really important few weeks for us.”
That spell begins with Saturday’s game against a City side who have found their feet in recent weeks, having signed off ahead of the international break with a 4-1 Champions League thrashing of Borussia Dortmund and a 3-0 Premier League win over Liverpool.
Newcastle could hardly face a tougher task on their return to action, but having lost just one of their last four home games against City, Howe is hoping his side can kickstart their season with a weekend win.
“That would be the perfect start [to the run coming up],” said Howe. “But we know that we’re up against, for me, the best team consistently in the Premier League for the last five, maybe ten, years.
“I think they’ve been excellent, so for me, there’s no bigger game that Manchester City in terms of test. Hopefully, that brings out the best in us. We’ll certainly be prepared for the game, we’ve had a long time to reflect on our last performance and hopefully we see a response.”