Eddie Howe has said that Joelinton and Callum Wilson are facing late fitness tests ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's visit to St. James' Park tomorrow in the Champions League. Sandro Tonali is seemingly "fine" to play, however, after he missed a good chunk of training on Tuesday.
This is according to Craig Hope of The Mail, who sat in on the head coach's pre-match press conference at St. James' Park this afternoon:
Neither was expected to feature at all as of this morning, but Wilson was then pictured joining in the latter part of training at Darsley Park by the Sky Sports News cameras.
Still, while both players are going to be "close" it seems unlikely that either will be fit enough to start, with bench duty probably the best they can hope for if they are ultimately passed fit.
Both have been dealing with hamstring issues. Wilson reported "slight tightness" in training ahead of the Manchester City game in the Carabao Cup and subsequently missed that fixture and the 2-0 win over Burnley in the Premier League a few days later.
Joelinton, meanwhile, only just returned from a knee injury against Pepe Guardiola's side and then came off the bench for Elliot Anderson in the second half on Saturday. He lasted just a few minutes before being withdrawn himself after tweaking the muscle
Sandro Tonali was nowhere to be seen initially, but seemingly did participate in the session at some stage and is "fine" to feature. He should start on the left side of the central midfield trio, in place of Anderson, provided Joelinton isn't fit enough to play from the beginning.
The Italian international will be keen to make his mark on such a huge occasion at St. James' Park after a difficult start to life on Tyneside. He appears to be well-suited to these sorts of games versus the hustle and bustle of the Premier League at this stage and could be a calming influence in the midfield.
Sven Botman, however, is definitely absent. The Dutch defender wasn't expected to take any part in the contest anyway, but Howe confirmed that he will be absent. Club captain Jamaal Lascelles is set to deputise, justifying his decision to stay on Tyneside over the summer amidst interest from abroad.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Manchester City
|
9 | 11 | 23 |
2 |
Liverpool
|
9 | 12 | 22 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
9 | 7 | 18 |
4 |
Aston Villa
|
9 | 5 | 18 |
5 |
Chelsea
|
9 | 8 | 17 |
6 |
Brighton
|
9 | 4 | 16 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
9 | 4 | 16 |
8 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
9 | 8 | 13 |
9 |
Brentford
|
9 | 0 | 13 |
10 |
Fulham
|
9 | 0 | 12 |
11 |
Bournemouth
|
9 | 0 | 12 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
9 | -1 | 12 |
13 |
West Ham United
|
9 | -3 | 11 |
14 |
Manchester United
|
9 | -3 | 11 |
15 |
Leicester
|
9 | -4 | 9 |
16 |
Everton
|
9 | -6 | 9 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
9 | -5 | 6 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
9 | -11 | 4 |
19 |
Wolves
|
9 | -13 | 2 |
20 |
Southampton
|
9 | -13 | 1 |