Botman has been missed the last two games because of a back issue and didn’t travel to Baku for the Magpies’ midweek Champions League thrashing of Qarabag.
He has stepped up his training at Darsley Park in the last few days though, and is expected to be back in the squad for Newcastle’s trip to the Etihad, with his presence potentially enabling Eddie Howe to switch to a back five if he decides a change of shape is necessary at a stadium where the Magpies have never claimed a Premier League victory.
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Miley will miss out again as a result of the muscular issue that was caused by the dead leg he suffered in the Champions League draw with Paris St Germain, while Wissa will also be absent after a suffering a knock in training. The summer signing from Brentford should, however, be available for next week’s second leg against Qarabag.
“There’s better news on Sven Botman,” said Howe, whose side head to the Etihad off the back of three successive away wins. “He could be in and around this game.
“Lewie Miley still has a little bit to go. Without going into too much medical stuff which is beyond me, it was a dead leg, but it disturbed a bit of the muscle. I don’t think he’s too far away, nothing more than a week or a couple of weeks maximum, but we’ve been told that we’ve got to be careful with it.
“I don’t think Yoane will be available at the weekend, but I don’t think he’ll be too far off, maybe the Qarabag game. He got the injury in training, it was a nasty little knock, but I think he’ll be fine.”
Tino Livramento and Bruno Guimaraes remain on the longer-term absentee list, with the latter having posted pictures on social media this week showing him watching Wednesday’s win over Qarabag in an oxygen chamber while recuperating from a knee injury in Brazil.
“There’s no massive updates on Bruno,” said Howe. “He’s in Brazil and judging by a couple of pictures I’ve seen, he’s enjoying himself! That’s typical Bruno – seeing him watching the game did make me laugh because his passion and love for the team was shining through. We wish him well from afar.
“Tino’s making good progress, but I still don’t think we’re going to shave much time off the early March date that was set for him.”