Striker Alexander Isak is likely to be fit for Newcastle’s home game against Wolves tomorrow night.
The Sweden international missed Sunday’s FA Cup win over Bromley after picking up a minor hamstring problem in last week’s 2-0 EFL Cup win at Arsenal.
Issac has scored in seven consecutive Premier League games to help Newcastle climb to fifth in the table and manager Eddie Howe is confident he will have his star man at his disposal.
Howe said: “He will be desperate to play of course. Those runs (goals) I’m not very focused on and I don’t really care about them, but I understand people will care a lot about them and I’d like Alex to keep scoring. I think the most important thing for me is that the team works well for him and it works well for the team. The two things go hand in hand together.
“It will be there or thereabouts. We haven’t seen him train yet, but he will be (available). We have to be careful, of course, but that’s why I did what I did against Arsenal, to try and protect him and make sure we don’t lose him. He is a valuable player for us. Everything is fine, he will be fine and he will take his place in the team.”
Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak:
“He will be desperate to play of course. I would love for Alex to keep scoring, but the most important thing for me is that the team works well for him and it works well for the team. The two go hand in hand. We looked like we were scoring goals… pic.twitter.com/w1ev2vNP7Y
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) January 14, 2025
The core trio are also likely to appear
Sven Botman, Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock are also likely to return.
“We’ll have a look at them again today,” Howe added. “They were left out (against Bromley) for real reasons, all different, but we’re not hoping for anything major. Such small problems that we had to sort out. Fingers crossed it will be there or thereabouts.”
Barnes blows
There was less positive news for winger Harvey Barnes, who is expected to be out for around four weeks after damaging a thigh muscle against the League Two side.
“Harvey will be out for some time,” Howe said. “We don’t think it’s a serious injury but it will be enough to keep him out for a few weeks. I think we’re probably looking at a month. Don’t hold me to it, but that’s kind of the early assessment.
“He scanned. Like I said, it’s not too bad, but it will be enough to keep him out. It’s an injury to his thigh, a muscle in his thigh. He did so with a cross towards the end of the first half. He felt he could go on until half-time, but then it appeared at half-time that he couldn’t come out for the second half.”
