Newcastle United have released an official update on the fitness front ahead of Steve Bruce’s press conference on Friday morning, also sharing photos of the players who took part in training on Thursday.
The good news is that Karl Darlow is back after recovering from Covid, while Isaac Hayden is fit again – a welcome boost after he’s missed out ever since failing to return for the second half of our 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
It’s also positive to see Elliot Anderson in training for the first time in months after an ongoing hip injury saw him miss the entire pre-season programme.
The bad news, however, is that Callum Wilson took no part in Thursday’s session, with the club stating that Steve Bruce will issue an update of his own on the striker’s fitness in his Friday morning presser.
The 29-year-old limped off with a thigh injury during our 2-2 draw with Southampton, and it’s been claimed since that he could face a ‘number of weeks’ out.
Elsewhere, Ryan Fraser and Jonjo Shelvey have also been unable to train. The former was spotted on crutches after withdrawing from Scotland’s squad earlier this week, while Shelvey is continuing his recovery from a calf injury.
Last but not least, Martin Dubravka is also absent from the training photos and still on the sidelines after his foot operation became infected – a setback which is expected to keep him out at least another month.
On the subject of goalkeepers, we have named FOUR in our 25-man squad for the first half of the 2021/22 season:
- Martin Dubravka
- Karl Darlow
- Freddie Woodman
- Mark Gillespie
- Jacob Murphy
- Javier Manquillo
- Emil Krafth
- Jamaal Lascelles
- Federico Fernandez
- Fabian Schar
- Ciaran Clark
- Paul Dummett
- Matt Ritchie
- Jamal Lewis
- Jonjo Shelvey
- Isaac Hayden
- Joe Willock
- Sean Longstaff
- Jeff Hendrick
- Miguel Almiron
- Ryan Fraser
- Allan Saint-Maximin
- Callum Wilson
- Joelinton
- Dwight Gayle
