'Wait and see': Eddie Howe gives update on Newcastle United's four first-team players carrying knocks

Newcastle United have a few more days to go before they are back in action against Leicester City on Monday night in an 8pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.

After picking up a few knocks on Wednesday night in the win against Brentford, the extra days could be very handy indeed for Eddie Howe.

Alexander Isak, Kieran Trippier and Joelinton all picked up niggles on Wednesday putting them all in doubt for Leicester.

On top of that, Anthony Gordon is still recovering from the bruised hip he picked up when playing for England.

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Newcastle's mini injury crisis may be over before Monday's game

Speaking to the media this morning (h/t The Chronicle), Eddie Howe gave brief updates on the four of them without giving much away as usual.

On Joelinton: “Knowing Joey we will see him want to train today and he’ll say he’s fine.”

On Kieran Trippier and Alexander Isak: "Wait and see today, really. Of course, I had medical updates yesterday but I will see them for the first time today. Hopefully, they are feeling OK. I don't think we have any big injuries from Wednesday night, but we have certainly got a few niggles so let's wait and see."

On Anthony Gordon: "He hasn't yet [returned to full training]. Another one we're monitoring. We think he's still recovering from a really bad knock he got for England, which he's still got huge bruising on his leg. He's done individual training. He's not done group training. He's still not feeling 100% pain-free so, again, let's wait and see."

Eddie Howe has a great excuse to avoid making a tough call on Monday

Yesterday we wondered whether Anthony Gordon returning to fitness would displace Harvey Barnes from the team and break up the blossoming partnership between him and Tino Livramento.

It now sounds like Howe has been handed the perfect excuse to avoid making that decision by saying Gordon isn't 100% pain-free.

We will not be surprised to see Harvey Barnes start on Monday with Gordon maybe on the bench if he's involved at all.