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Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak has emerged as a potential fitness risk ahead of the highly anticipated Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on March 16.
The Swedish international, who has been pivotal for Newcastle this season, missed last week’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at Anfield due to a groin issue and looked uncomfortable during his substitution in the FA Cup loss to Brighton last weekend.
Isak returned to action last weekend in Newcastle’s FA Cup fifth-round clash against Brighton, where he opened the scoring with a penalty before being substituted in the 87th minute.
The forward appeared visibly uncomfortable before his withdrawal, raising concerns about his fitness ahead of the Carabao Cup final. Howe downplayed fears of a serious injury in the immediate aftermath.
Sky Sports provided a positive outlook on the injury situation earlier this week.
Now Eddie Howe has provided an official update, with the Magpies boss asserting that his star man is fit and ready to go despite some body tightness last weekend:
“He’s fine, Sunday he came off, he was just feeling a bit fatigued, I think, towards the end of the game, a bit tight in his body, so we withdrew him,” Howe explained as quoted by The Shields Gazette.
“I’m just trying to think back to this week, but I think he’s trained every day – he’s good.”
“Fingers crossed, yeah. As I said, if he’s fit, he’ll play, because that’s the best way to get him in the best physical condition for future games.”
Howe added:
“Footballers are finely-tuned athletes, and when they’re ready to play, they have to play, and we have to give them that opportunity. So, fingers crossed Alex will be fine.”
“I understand the intense speculation and spotlight on him, but the best thing we can do is just relax and let him play his football.”
“I think he’s very, very motivated to score, I think that’s one of the things that’s so good about him. Same with Callum [Wilson], they’ve got that desire to score in every moment, every training session. Goal-scorers have that mentality, he’s got it.”
The marksman’s 19 Premier League strikes this term are bettered only by Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.
This week, David Ornstein confirmed that Liverpool are admirers of Alexander Isak.
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