Early team news from Howe - Updates on 7 Mags, 3 ruled out vs Sheffield Utd & rotation plans
Eddie Howe has been speaking to the press this morning, issuing an update on SEVEN Newcastle United players heading into Sunday's trip to Sheffield United.
Joelinton and Joe Willock have been ruled out once again alongside Emil Krafth. The Brazilian remains absent with a knee injury, but Howe is hopeful he will return before the international break in two weeks time. As for Willock, he's been ruled out until after the break, meaning he won't feature until late October, at the earliest.
Martin Dubravka is fine after "feeling unwell" before the Milan game, Callum Wilson's load is being "managed" and Sandro Tonali has also barely trained due to recent niggles and international duty, which may explain his recent struggles.
Howe adds that Tino Livramento is "training well" and "outstanding prospect" Lewis Hall is being built up nicely after arriving short on fitness, so it remains to be seen if either start this weekend, with the 45-year-old confirming plans to rotate after Tuesday's draining trip to Milan. Here's what he's had to say on all of the above:
Howe on Joelinton, Willock, Livramento and Hall:
“We are still missing the two Joes in midfield. Apart from the we are pretty good.”
“We hope with Joelinton he could be back sooner (before the international break) but we’ll wait and see.”
“With Joe Willock, he’ll definitely be out until the international.”
“Tino is training well but fighting with Kieran. Same with Lewis. Outstanding prospect - building him up.”
Howe on Sandro Tonali:
“I think since then he's hardly trained with international duty (and) injuries. I think he's had one training session in near enough a month, which will then give you a clue. That's tough for any new player transitioning into a team. I think you need to train regularly, but he's adapting really well.
“As I said earlier, he's an incredible personality. He's very stable, and committed to the project here. I think he'll grow as time goes on.”
Howe on Callum Wilson:
“With Callum, we always have to manage his load. That doesn’t change whether it’s a single-game week or a three-game week, we have to monitor his training and make sure we give ourselves and Callum the best chance of staying fit through the season.”
Howe on rotation plans and fatigue heading into Sunday's game:
"We are going to have to rotate the squad. We don't want to make, if we can help it, wholesale changes to the team in any one game. I don't think that will do our rhythm any good. Tweaks as we're going along, hopefully then the team will be unaffected but we manage to keep everyone fresh.
“Those that played haven’t trained. Physically they can’t — that would be negative taking more energy from them. We prob won’t train fully before Sunday. We will be ‘training’ — but not at max. I don’t think anyone can measure emotionally what Milan took out of us.
“But it’s our job to recover and make sure we are ready for another tough test. That’s what the Champions League and the exposure brings. The consistency of our performances is going to be a true testament to how well we do this season.
