Newcastle United face Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League season next Saturday.
Aston Villa are sweating on Morgan Rogers’ fitness ahead of their Premier League opener with Newcastle United.
Unai Emery brought the winger on at half-time during their 4-0 pre-season win over Roma. However, Rogers was hooked just four minutes later - clutching his ankle - after falling awkwardly.
Further tests are set to be carried out, with the Premier League season starting in just eight days. Newcastle make the tricky trip to Villa Park on the opening day of the campaign having lost 4-1 there in April.
Morgan Rogers injury update
The Athletic claim the injury is not thought to be too serious but Rogers faces a race against time to face Newcastle. Signed last year from Middlesbrough for just £15million, the 23-year-old - a former Manchester City youth product - enjoyed a breakout season last year.
He scored 14 goals across all competitions to break into the England squad. A tight PSR situation at Villa saw Rogers linked with a big-money move but he is expected to stay and play a key role under Emery.
Newcastle United injury situation
As for Newcastle, Sven Botman is a doubt for the new campaign after tweaking his groin in pre-season. Lewis Hall made a much-anticipated comeback against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Joe Willock is ruled out with a calf injury and likely faces up to six weeks on the sidelines. As for Alexander Isak, fans can judge for themselves whether he is carrying a thigh problem.
The Swede is training alone and has not featured at all as the Magpies prepare for the Premier League season. Isak has made it clear he wishes to leave St James’ Park amid reported Liverpool interest.
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Eddie Howe on transfers
Eddie Howe stressed Newcastle are trying to bolster their ranks before the Premier League starts. He said: "We are looking at the best players we can get. We are only looking at the best we can get, I see all situations open and available to us.
"I feel that is the only way we are going to get where we want to go, which is to maximise quality over quantity. That is the way it has always been, the way we work, we try to improve, we have done it pretty well to this point.
"It has been a challenging summer as you know. We have missed out on loads of different targets for different reasons. But we are still very competitive and we are still in there trying to bring good players to the club, that won't change until the window shuts."
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