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Newcastle United are preparing to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Preparations are well underway as Newcastle United take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 4:30pm).
On their first of two visits to the capital this week, the Magpies won 1-0 against West Ham United in the Premier League on Monday night. Now it’s onto Wembley, where Eddie Howe’s side will attempt to end the club’s 70-year wait for a domestic trophy.
Having last week lost three key players for the final - Anthony Gordon (suspension), Lewis Hall (foot) and Sven Botman (knee) - Howe is hopeful his squad came through the West Ham game unscathed.
Speaking to reporters at the London Stadium, Howe said: “No, we're hopeful that we've got a clean bill of health. I don't think you ever quite know until the next day or two, but at the moment I think we look okay.”
Newcastle United forward back in first-team training after injury
The likes of Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes featured in the training gallery released by the club on Thursday. Also pictured was 19-year-old forward Ben Parkinson following two months out with an ankle injury.
After injuries decimated Howe’s squad last season, Parkinson was often called up to the first-team and made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat away to AFC Bournemouth. He also gained further senior minutes in pre-season.
Prior to Christmas, Parkinson had been in a rich vein of form for the academy, scoring eight goals in 13 appearances before sustaining his injury. The Durham-born attacker completed his comeback for the under-21s last Friday and has quickly been called up to first-team training.
"I was told before coming on to be myself, playing like I was before Christmas when I was scoring goals and playing with confidence,” Parkinson told newcastleunited.com. “I think I've also taken a lot of confidence from my rehab and although it came at an unfortunate time, it was possibly the right thing for me and I was trying to take the positives from that.
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"It couldn't have come at a worse time. I did it on New Years' Day and the January transfer window was something I was looking forward to, trying to get out and play senior football but that didn't happen.
"I want to give thanks to the medical team, Carl (Nelson) and Andy (Campbell) who got me back to full fitness and I'm now looking forward to the rest of the season."
A place on the bench up for grabs at Wembley
Howe can name a 20-man matchday squad for the Carabao Cup final (11 starters & nine subs), but only has 19 senior players available.
For the visit to West Ham, 17-year-old Sean Neave was named on the bench. But as the slightly more experienced option, Parkinson could come back into Howe’s thinking.
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