Newcastle United will welcome back at least one key player for their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace.
The Magpies remain without Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar due to their respective setbacks. Guimaraes is also a doubt for next Saturday’s match at home to Bournemouth, while Schar is expected to miss around another month.
Providing an update at Friday’s press conference, Eddie Howe said: “Bruno suffered, as probably the majority know, from mumps on his return from Brazil, so, that's delayed his return. So, he will not be involved in this game. I think there's probably a doubt over the Bournemouth game as well for him.
“No injury concern, more just the illness stopped him doing some key work that we needed him to do to be considered for these games. It's important he comes back when he's ready.
“Fabian, unfortunately, suffered an infection in his foot, so he's been in hospital having a very small operation to get that cleaned out. He won't return for around a month. That's bad news on him.”
Newcastle United get ‘massive’ injury boost
However, it isn’t all bad news, as Howe confirmed Lewis Miley is back in contention following 10 weeks out with a muscle injury.
The 19-year-old sustained what the medical team initially thought was a dead leg in the 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on January 28. However, further assessment revealed Miley was suffering from muscle damage.
The Gazette has launched a WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone.Simply click this linkto join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
Miley had hoped to be back involved before the international break in games against Barcelona and Sunderland, but Newcastle have erred on the side of caution as any misstep could have ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Newcastle United ready to ‘unleash’ Lewis Miley
With that in mind, the England youth international is likely to be on the bench at Selhurst Park with a view to unleashing him depending on how the game unfolds.
Despite his tender age, Miley has been one of the Magpies’ standout players this term, impressing in both midfield and at right-back.
“He’s been missed massively,” said Howe. “Sometimes with players, you know how important they are and with Lewy, we knew all his attributes and how good he is, but he’s added some new strings to his bow in recent games with the versatility.
“Suddenly, when we’ve lost that, you don’t just lose one player, you lose almost three or four in one player.
“His composure on the ball, his decision-making, his height, his athleticism, we’ve missed all of those aspects in his performance.
“Yes, he’s only 19 and he’s still getting better and improving al the time, but we’ve got an unbelievable player on our hands and we’ll be delighted to get him back on the pitch.
“Hopefully, of course, the injuries will be a thing of the pas for him. We want him to try to stay fit and to build the momentum that every player needs to be at their very best level.
“I see no reason why physically he can’t deliver that. He’s got really nice running style, he’s really professional. He looks after himself in between games probably as well as anyone else in the squad, so I see no issue with him physically.
“Yes, he’s had a couple… the last injury he had was really unlucky and it took a bit longer than we expected, but hopefully that’s a thing of the past for him."
Continue Reading