The £55m striker is on a goal drought and has now watched William Osula take the headlines with his goal against Man United
Yoane Wissa watches on from the bench during Newcastle's win over Manchester United
Yoane Wissa watches on from the bench during Newcastle's win over Manchester United(Image: 2026 CameraSport)
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Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has assured £55million man Yoane Wissa that he has not been overtaken in the pecking order in his attack - despite William Osula's wonder goal against Man United.
Howe gave Osula the nod ahead of Wissa to come off the bench against the Red Devils in midweek. But Howe insists that is no slight against Wissa, who has now gone seven matches without a goal.
It leaves Howe with a lot of choice in attack against Man City this weekend with three strikers vying for a place. The Magpies will have Wissa, Osula and German international Nick Woltemade all available this weekend after the £69m man recovered from a sickness bug earlier this week.
Howe, speaking at his Press conference, said: "Yoane has had a very tough introduction to this season because he went a number of weeks without training and then picked up the injury he did, it was really difficult for him and for us.
"So I think Yoane is getting back to his best fitness levels, he is doing a lot of work behind the scenes. There is no pecking order it will be depending on how the players perform."
When asked about Woltemade's involvement, Howe said he hopes the German international will be fine but ruled out youngster Lewis Miley, who continues to recover from muscle damage caused by a dead leg.
The Magpies manager said: "Nick will be OK. He had an illness and lost a bit of weight. He trained yesterday and felt OK. Lewis Miley is not there yet."
Newcastle will also run checks on full-back Tino Livramento ahead of the visit of Man City in the FA Cup. The England international has been out since Christmas with a hamstring injury but is closing in on a return.
"Tino is getting there, let’s wait and see," added Howe. "He hasn’t trained with us yet, but he has done a lot of work. He has a lot of work behind him, but it is just that training time with us."
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