Guess which Newcastle United player is a doubt for Monday's game against West Ham

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe spoke to the media on Friday morning ahead the visit of West Ham United to St James' Park on Monday night live on Sky Sports - kick-off is at 8pm.

Eddie Howe's international players all returned from representing their country with no new issues to speak of meaning that the pool of absentees heading into the next Premier League game hadn't grown.

If anything, there was an expectation that the pool would shrink with Callum Wilson set to return to contention after the break, as well as Kieran Trippier.

It sounds like one of those could be set to return to the fold on Monday. There are no prizes for guessing which one potentially isn't.

newcastleunited.com

Callum Wilson is still a doubt for Monday's game

Of course, it's Callum "Part Man Part Treatment Table" Wilson who Eddie Howe has given a solid 'maybe' to in terms of whether he's ready for a return, telling reporters (via The Chronicle) that he's at a delicate stage of his recovery.

"He's doing well. We anticipate he's gonna train with the group today.

"Whether he's quite there for West Ham let's see, there's a chance he could be involved but we need to get through the next few days.

"I think that the most important thing is that Callum does come back and when he does come back, he's in a good place to contribute and to make a difference.

"We know his importance but he's obviously at a delicate stage of his return because you've got to manage the last parts correctly.

"We need to learn from previous issues that we've had and try and keep."

DONE!

Never in the history of Eddie Howe press conferences has a more apt word been used than 'delicate' in a sentence regarding Callum Wilson. Granted he never said Wilson was delicate, but the dots were there so we connected them.

Get him back to fitness for January and sell him to the first club that comes knocking with a five-pound note in hand.

I hate how much his injury issues (which aren't even his fault) have made me turn against him, but Newcastle United is a football club, not a rehabilitation centre.