Eddie Howe gives injury updates on Sven Botman and Lewis Miley ahead of massive Manchester City clash
Newcastle United return to Premier League action on Saturday night as they take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium live on TNT Sports with an 8pm kick-off.
This game will be a huge test for the Magpies, who come into the game off the back of three consecutive wins away from home. A stark contrast to earlier in the season when away wins were rarer than hen's teeth.
It won't be an easy game, however, especially given Newcastle's adversity towards winning at the Etihad.
Eddie Howe will have to go full strength to get anything from the game, but with so many injuries, that full-strength side looks very different to what it would normally.
Lewis Miley needs more time to recover from his dead leg
Bruno Guimaraes and Tino Livramento remain sidelined with several weeks to go before we can even think about seeing them in action. Lewis Miley looks set to miss this one, too, as he continues to struggle after picking up a dead leg as explained by Eddie Howe in his pre-match presser this morning.
“Lewie Miley still has a little bit to go. Without going into too much medical stuff which is beyond me, it was a dead leg, but it disturbed a bit of the muscle. I don’t think he’s too far away, nothing more than a week or a couple of weeks maximum, but we’ve been told that we’ve got to be careful with it.”
Yoane Wissa will also miss the game against Man City, but Howe believes the striker could be available for the home leg against Qarabag in midweek.
Sven Botman is likely to be involved on Saturday night
It was better news on Dutch defender Sven Botman, however, with Howe suggesting he may be involved on Saturday.
“There’s better news on Sven Botman. He could be in and around this game."
We thought Botman would have been involved on Wednesday, but he wasn't in the squad at all, so we expect that he'll be on the bench on Saturday in a bid to play it safe.
