Two Newcastle stars spotted back in training and U21 talent called up by Howe

Newcastle United are heading into one of their biggest periods of the season so far.

After tomorrow's Champions League second leg against Qarabag, which should set up a last 16 meeting with either Barcelona or Chelsea, we have two huge Premier League home games before Man City at St James' Park in the FA Cup.

With that in mind, it feels vital that our injury list begins to shorten, and there is some positive news to share this afternoon on that front.

As photos from today's training session show, both Sven Botman and Yoane Wissa were back with the group on Monday morning.

Botman has missed recent games against Aston Villa, Qarabag and Man City due to a back issue, while a 'nasty knock' in training has kept Yoane Wissa out for the same period, with the DR Congo striker not featuring since our 3-2 defeat to Brentford earlier this month.

The fact both trained this morning suggests they'll be back in the squad, at the very minimum, for tomorrow's second leg with Qarabag.

Like Wissa and Botman, South Korean winger Seung-Soo Park also trained with the first team this morning, although he will not be eligible to play tomorrow due to UEFA squad rules.

Who will start is anyone's guess, but Under-21 defenders Alex Murphy and Leo Shahar will be looking to make an appearance, as will Sean Neave and Will Osula at the other end of the pitch.