‘Incredibly strong’: Eddie Howe provides update on Sandro Tonali ahead of tomorrow’s game

Eddie Howe has confirmed that Sandro Tonali is in contention to play against Crystal Palace tomorrow.

Roy Hodgson brings his Crystal Palace side to Newcastle tomorrow for a good old 3pm Saturday kick-off.

The news leading up to the game has been dominated by Sandro Tonali's involvement in the Italian betting scandal which as already seen one player suspended from football for seven months.

Tonali was of course the main focus of attention in this morning's press conference

It's therefore no real shock that Tonali was the main focus of Eddie Howe's pre-match presser rather than the game itself.

Howe gave an update on Tonali and revealed (via The Chronicle) that the £55million Italian star is still very much in his thoughts to play tomorrow.

"Yeah he's very much with us. He trained twice this week with us and he's very much available for selection. Like I do with all the players, analyse their training performances, how they look, how they feel. Sandro has trained well with us.

"He's had a very, very difficult couple of weeks. He's been dealing with a lot and from what I can see, I see him for a few hours a day, he's handling himself really well and he's dealing with his emotions incredibly strongly, but underneath that I'm sure there's a lot going on.

"I'll have to make a call but I always have to bring it back to football. I have to bring it back to his training performances and what he's delivering on the training pitch and then try and make the best decision for the team."

The game might come too soon for Tonali

We're still thinking that the game may come too soon for Tonali to fully focus on the task at hand and for that reason, and that reason alone, he's likely to have to make do with a place on the bench at best.

One thing is for certain though, if he does get on the pitch, the Toon Army will give him one hell of a reception and make him fully aware of how much we support him.