No sign of £20m Newcastle United ace in latest training gallery - this has to be a wind up

Newcastle United published their latest training gallery on Wednesday and one player was notably absent from all photos.

Each week before a game, the club posts a collection of images from the midweek training session on the official website.

While you're not likely to see every player in the small selection of photos, the gallery is often used as an indicator of who will be available for the upcoming match.

Sometimes, players who are making their way back from injury will be deliberately left out of the images to keep the opposition guessing.

Serena Taylor/newcastleunited.com

Callum Wilson was not pictured in the latest training gallery

At the same time, however, it can cause anxiety amongst the fans if they don't see someone they were hoping to make a return.

Which brings us to Callum Wilson who hasn't featured at all this season after picking up a back injury in the summer.

The £20 million former Bournemouth man has been 'close' to a return since the season got underway. It felt almost like a certainty that he'd be in the squad at the weekend to face Brighton but Eddie Howe's Friday morning press conference soon put paid to that theory.

There could be a reasonable explanation for his absence

With a double-header against Chelsea coming up and the team struggling for goals, a return to some form of fitness for Callum Wilson would be very welcome, however his absence from the training gallery is highly suspicious.

We are hoping it's just part of Howe's mind games or that club photographer Serena Taylor was simply never in the same area as Wilson when taking her snaps.

Otherwise, if it turns out that he's still not fit, the fume is going to be real!