Some good news ahead of Saturday’s game, with Matt Ritchie back in training and expected to be fine for this weekend and Islam Slimani now in contention to make his debut after featuring for Algeria last night.
Whether Slimani is able to featur is debatable due to his expected lack of match sharpness, however it’s a huge boost to hear Matt Ritchie is ok after he withdrew from the Scotland squad on Monday with a groin injury.
Lee Ryder recently confirmed the injury wasn’t serious, but doubts remained over his fitness for this weekend’s game. The latest update from Sky Sports’ Keith Downie is a positive one, however, confirming that he’s been back out in full training this morning and will play against Huddersfield on Saturday.
Matt Ritchie is back out training for Newcastle this morning, having pulled out of the Scotland squad for last night’s match in Hungary. Set to play this weekend against Huddersfield.
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) March 28, 2018
There’s still some question marks as to whether Slimani will make his debut this weekend (with some suggesting he looked unfit and lacking movement last night), but his late cameo for Algeria provided a big indicator that he’s now injury free and available for selection.
As confirmed by the Chronicle, the Leicester loanee will be due back on Tyneside tomorrow, with him set to be ‘assessed by the club’s medical staff ahead of Saturday’s crunch Premier League home tie with Huddersfield’.
Rafa will get to see him finally train with the first team too – something which will be a clear indicator if he is up to speed and able to feature on Saturday. Let’s hope he makes the bench (he won’t start):
Hedging bets, I'd say you might see Islam Slimani from the bench against Huddersfield.
No way he starts. Wouldn't be Rafa's style anyway given how pleased he's been with Gayle's contribution over recent weeks.
— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) March 28, 2018
