Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has provided a fresh update on the squad ahead of Sunday’s crucial Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
The Magpies travel to Selhurst Park looking to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to Sunderland in the Tyneside derby in their previous outing, and also to ease the growing pressure on their manager.
Newcastle have been handed a double injury boost ahead of the clash, with both Lewis Miley and Sandro Tonali returning to training and in contention to feature.
Miley has been sidelined since late January with a dead leg. Although the injury was initially expected to keep him out for a short period of time, it proved more serious than first thought and has forced him to miss the club’s last 14 matches across all competitions.
Speaking in Friday’s pre-match press conference, Howe confirmed the return of the young midfielder.
“On everybody else, we’re pretty good. Lewis [Miley] trained and trained well with us. That’s been a great thing for us to see because we missed him massively”, Howe said in quotes revealed by Sky Sports.
Tonali is also back in contention after recovering from a groin issue that ruled him out of the last two league games.
The Italian midfielder had been a prominent figure earlier in the season, featuring in the club’s opening 29 Premier League matches before missing recent fixtures against Chelsea and Sunderland.
“And then of course you had Sandro [Tonali], who played during the international break anyway, with his injury after the Sunderland game, and others are in a good place.”
However, Newcastle will continue to be without the duo of Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar, who are both expected to miss the clash.
Guimaraes had only recently returned from a hamstring problem but is now set for another short spell out due to illness, although he is expected back before the end of the season.
“Bruno [Guimaraes] suffered from mumps on his return from Brazil. He will not be involved in this game. There’s probably a doubt over the Bournemouth game for him”, Howe added.
“No injury concern, just the illness stopped him from doing some key work we needed him to do to be considered for these games. It may be the game after [Arsenal], but he must come back when he’s ready.”
Schar, meanwhile, has endured an injury-hit campaign which has limited him to just 16 league appearances this season and is now facing another month on the sidelines in a further setback for the Magpies.
“Fabian [Schar] 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, so that’s bad news for him”, the Newcastle boss concluded.
Newcastle have failed to win any of their last four visits to Selhurst Park, and they will need to improve on that record if they are to keep their push for European qualification on track.
