Eddie Howe drops big injury hint on Tino Livramento ahead of Manchester United clash as gaffer confirms another big absence
Newcastle United take on Manchester United under the lights at St James' Park on Wednesday night. Kick-off is at 8pm live on TNT Sports.
This game couldn't feel much more massive right now. After the disappointing defeat to Everton on Saturday, Newcastle must now face one of the Premier League's most in-form teams.
Newcastle's chances of qualifying for Europe are disappearing in front of our very eyes as if they'd been snapped away by Thanos, but the mood could shift dramatically with a win over Man United tomorrow.
It would be a massive help to Eddie Howe if he had a full squad to pick from for tomorrow, but that will not be the case, unfortunately, as injuries continue to ravage the squad.
Nick Woltemade will not be in the squad to face Manchester United on Wednesday
Eddie Howe gave an update on some key players during his press conference on Tuesday morning, and while Tino Livramento won't be involved tomorrow, it doesn't sound like he's too far away from a return. Howe also said that Nick Woltemade will not be involved tomorrow due to illness, but he expects Jacob Ramsey to be available.
"Jacob Ramsey trained fine yesterday. Potentially a sickness in the squad, Nick Woltemade hasn’t trained through illness, but we will give him every chance for tomorrow. Tino Livramento is getting closer and closer, this game possibly comes too soon for him, we are desperate for him to become available."
Fingers crossed that the sickness bug doesn't get too far around the camp, or we could see a couple more names scratched off the list before tomorrow's kick-off.
Tino Livramento is edging ever closer to a return from injury
At least Eddie Howe doesn't have to make a big call on what to do with Nick Woltemade tomorrow now that the decision has been taken out of his hands.
As for Tino, the fact that Howe even mentioned tomorrow's game as a possibility suggests that he could be back within the next couple of games. Potentially even against Manchester City on Saturday night.
That'll be nice for him, won't it? Back just in time to remind Pep Guardiola how good he is ahead of what's starting to feel like an inevitable summer switch.
