Newcastle United latest news: Eddie Howe has addressed injury concerns affecting his squad ahead of their Champions League clash with Qarabag.
The Magpies have won one, drawn two and lost one of their four away games in this season’s Champions League to date. However, they are entering uncharted territory in Baku as not only is it their first ever match in Azerbaijan, but also the first time they will be playing a knockout game in the Champions League.
Howe’s side will be desperate to secure a good result to give them a platform to finish the job at St James’ Park next week and move a step closer to a Round of 16 game against either Chelsea or Barcelona. However, to do that, they know they have to be at their best against a Qarabag side who will be determined to get a result on home turf in the first-leg.
Newcastle travelled to Azerbaijan on Tuesday, but didn’t have their captain Bruno Guimaraes with them. Guimaraes is instead in Brazil as he nurses a muscle injury that will keep him out of action until after March’s international break.
The Magpies were victorious at Villa Park without Guimaraes at the weekend in a game that, fortunately, didn’t go to extra-time and put more strain on the squad. Guimaraes is just one of a number of players who are not only expected to miss out against Qarabag on Wednesday night, but also for the next couple of weeks.
Neither he nor Fabian Schar are expected back before April, whilst Tino Livramento, who has been nursing a hamstring injury since mid-January, faces a race against time to return before international football takes centre stage at the end of next month.
Eddie Howe provides Newcastle United injury update v Qarabag
Speaking to the media at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, a 31,090 capacity stadium in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, Howe provided an update on the status of his squad ahead of their clash with Qarabag. Brazilian midfielder Joelinton, who hasn’t featured since limping off against Aston Villa at St James’ Park last month, has travelled to Azerbaijan with his teammates and has a chance of featuring on Wednesday night.
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“He's back in the squad which is a great boost for us,” Howe said about the Brazilian. “He's such an important player and a big presence in our squad. A real leader. He trained well yesterday and felt really good, so delighted with his return.”
In addition to news of Joelinton’s return, though, Howe confirmed that defender Emil Krafth is likely to miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a knee injury. The Swedish international hasn’t featured since the beginning of November and was removed from the club’s ‘List A’ squad for the knockout stages of the Champions League earlier this week.
"Emil has had an operation on his knee so in all likelihood it looks like his season is over which is a blow for us. He first suffered the problem on international duty and we hoped he could come back and be OK. It was clear in training he wasn't going to get to the level needed and there needed to be a surgical intervention."
Elsewhere, Yoane Wissa, Lewis Miley and Sven Botman will all miss Wednesday night’s game as they recover from their respective injury issues in addition to Guimaraes, Krafth, Schar and Livramento.
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