Craig Hope issues cautiously optimistic update on Yoane Wissa's injury as Newcastle United return to Champions League
Eddie Howe confirmed on Friday during his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers that new signing Yoane Wissa will miss Saturday's clash.
The 29-year-old picked up a knock against Senegal while on International duty in midweek, and the club have opted to send the striker to a specialist to get a better understanding of the injury.
We always get a bit tense when the word 'specialist' enters the conversation, as we've seen it before when players claim to be fine and the specialist signs them off for months.
It's not always the case, of course, so we will retain some semblance of hope for now.
Yoane Wissa could be available for the Barcelona game on Thursday
Speaking of hope (BOOM! Segue!), Craig Hope provided a small update on Wissa's injury in his YouTube video after the press conference, and while he was cautious not to sound too optimistic, there's definitely a feeling that Wissa may be fit to play a part when Barcelona visit for the Champions League on Thursday.
“This is my information. This talks to what I was told yesterday and what I have tried to check out today. [I’m told] It is not a serious knee injury, that he still does stand a chance of playing against Barcelona.
“But before I would commit to that with any degree of confidence, let’s see what a specialist says. We have been here before with Sven Botman, where a player might feel and want one thing, when in actual fact it is something entirely different.
“Yes, I am getting encouraging, positive news and noises that he might be ok for Barcelona, but that might just be the player wanting to be that.”
Squad depth is the name of the game
We may get a more solid update from Eddie Howe today when he speaks to the media after the Wolves game, but for now, let's go into the Wolves game with a bit of optimism.
Losing Wissa and Jacob Ramsey so early in the season, especially in Wissa's case, given that he's not even made his debut, is a bitter blow, but this is why the club worked so hard to add depth.
It's bad that these two are missing, but Howe still has the players to cover their absence without it being too damaging. A good sign that the summer window was ultimately successful.
