Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon is closing in on a return from injury.placeholder image
Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon is closing in on a return from injury. | Getty Images
Newcastle United welcomed some key players back to training ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Manchester City.
The Magpies have lost their last two matches in the league at West Ham United and Brentford but return to Premier League action after the international break, having won each of their last five games at St James’ Park in all competitions.
Head coach Eddie Howe will be forced to make changes from the 3-1 defeat at Brentford following Dan Burn’s sending off and subsequent suspension. Burn will miss the Man City match but be back available for the Champions League trip to Marseille and the following Premier League match at Everton.
United are also hoping to have Anthony Gordon back available after he missed the Brentford match and international duty with England due to a hip injury picked up against Athletic Club.
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Newcastle United injury latest
Gordon has scored in each of Newcastle’s last two matches against Manchester City at St James’ Park. The 24-year-old scored from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw against City last season and in the 3-2 defeat the season prior.
Providing an update on the winger, Howe said: “Anthony Gordon is very close. He's worked well during the break and he's touch and go for the game. We'll make a very late decision.”
Nick Pope was forced off against Brentford with a concussion and had to withdraw from the England squad as a result. But now the 12-day concussion protocol period has passed, the goalkeeper is available for selection.
Joelinton was also withdrawn against Brentford but is expected to be available. Sandro Tonali is also available after being rested in Italy’s final World Cup qualifier against Norway, which they lost 4-1.
"Nick Pope has trained and there's no problems there,” Howe added. “Sandro is fine.”
Tino Livramento has been out since September with a knee injury but has since returned to training and is in Howe’s thoughts ahead of a busy run of fixtures.
"He's very close,” Howe said. “He's trained in the international break, which is great to see. He's such an important player for us and it's great to have him back training with the group.
“He's done a lot of work. He's been very, very good professionally with how he's dealt with the injury and the work he's done with the physios so I'd say he's in good shape."
NUFC trio ruled out v Manchester City
Three players who won’t feature this weekend are Dan Burn, Yoane Wissa and William Osula.
As mentioned, Burn is suspended for the game while Wissa and Osula remain injured.
Osula had been nursing an ankle injury before being ruled out of the last two matches against Athletic Club following a specialist assessment.
Wissa is yet to make his debut for Newcastle following his £55million deadline day arrival from Brentford. Almost three months later, there is still no clear return date for his knee injury.
“He's not back training with us yet but he's close,” Howe added. “He's close to training with us but before he gets to there it's difficult to give you a return date."
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