Eddie Howe gives Alexander Isak injury update after striker looked to have hurt shoulder

Newcastle United fans had a heart-in-the-mouth moment in the pre-season friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday.

In the second, and final game of the summer Japan tour, Newcastle looked far from convincing as Yokohama FM walked away 2-0 winners in Tokyo in a game that they could have won by a bigger margin.

The result wasn't ideal for the Magpies but pre-season isn't really about the results, it's about building players' fitness back up and giving them match practice.

Like every game though, there's always the risk that a player can pick up an injury and Newcastle fans had a moment when it looked like the worst possible player had picked up a bad knock.

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Alexander Isak needed on-field attention for his shoulder

After going over the keeper's outstretched hands in a one-v-one, Alexander Isak landed awkwardly and seemed to hurt his shoulder. The physios came onto the pitch to give him a fair bit of attention before he carried on, but then at half time he was withdrawn.

Fortunately, speaking to The Chronicle at full-time, Eddie Howe admitted that Isak's withdrawal was planned.

"No, that was scheduled for him. Of course, he went over on his shoulder early in the game, it was sore but he was fine to carry on. We don’t envisage any problems but of course we need to check out the mechanism and how his shoulder is but I think he looks OK."

Will Osula's move from Sheffield United is said to be close

With Callum Wilson already to miss the opening game of the season, plus a couple more potentially, losing Alexander Isak would be a disaster, especially as Newcastle have so far failed to sign a third striker.

A deal is said to be close for Sheffield United forward Will Osula who can play centre-forward. The 20-year-old has a lot of positive attributes but has yet to find the net in the Premier League so we don't want to be relying on him for too long if we pick up injuries.

Fortunately, it sounds like Isak is absolutely fine so we have dodged a bullet.