Eddie Howe confirms £15m man is once again out of action for another bizarre reason

Newcastle United have no fresh injury concerns ahead of tomorrow's game against Premier League champions Manchester City.

Alexander Isak remains a doubt with the toe injury that almost kept him out against Fulham last week.

Howe confirmed that Isak was given an injection to get him through the game at Craven Cottage but he was starting to feel discomfort by the end of the game and therefore remains a doubt to face City.

However, the big injury news from this week was that Matt Targett was absent from the training photos and Eddie Howe confirmed in his Friday morning press conference that Targett had missed training this week.

Matt Targett is missing because he's got an itch

The £15 million former Aston Villa man's sightings in training have been as rare as hen's teeth as the perpetually injured full-back vies with Callum Wilson for the biggest waste of a squad space at the club.

This week's big issue for the 29-year-old is an eczema flare-up!

I've suffered with eczema all my life, have it from head to toe and at times it can get really painful, but not once has it stopped me from working and I wasn't getting paid anywhere near as much as Targett is. For what he earns I'd play through any flare-up. Get some Doublebase on it, wrap it up, and get on with it. Unless it's on his eyelids. He get a pass then.

In terms of excuses for missing training, Matt Targett is getting inventive

In all honesty, if he was an ever-present in training and in the squad I wouldn't even flag this up as an issue, but it really just feels like he's looking for excuses now.

Marcelino had better excuses than Matt Targett.

What's his next problem going to be? Friction burns on his finger after playing too much Track and Field on his PlayStation?