Eddie Howe has shared a positive update on Allan Saint-Maximin and Kieran Trippier’s fitness following spells on the sidelines, however Callum Wilson’s comeback appears to have been put on hold.
The good news is that a fit-again Saint-Maximin has “trained very well” over the break and is back in contention ahead of Sunday’s trip to Spurs after failing to start since our 1-0 win over Aston Villa six weeks ago.
We also lost Kieran Trippier to a broken foot that day, however Howe has revealed that will return “quite quickly” if a scan on his foot later today shows his injury has healed well.
As for Wilson, the NUFC boss was unable to say whether he’ll play again this season – which is a worry in itself – saying he’s behind Trippier in his recovery from an injury to his calf AND Achilles.
These comments come as a slight surprise and suggest there’s been a setback, with The Telegraph reporting last week that our top scorer had an ‘outside chance’ of featuring in next Friday’s clash with Wolves at St James’ Park.
Here’s what Howe had to say on all of the above when speaking to the press earlier today:
Howe on Saint-Maximin:
“Mentally he’s very good.
“He’s trained very well while we’ve been away [In Dubai]
“We hadn’t seen much of him [before the break]. He had a calf injury and then he had a bad illness.
“Whenever a player has some time away with that it’s very difficult to get them back up to speed straight away so this break has been very good for him.
“He’s trained very well and we’re excited to see him back.”
Howe on Trippier:
“Kieran has a scan today on his foot to see how that’s healed, so hopefully that scan goes well and, from this day, maybe we can push him quite quickly to get back.
“Hopefully we get good news.
Howe on Wilson:
“Callum is slightly behind Kieran, but he’s still making good progress.
“He is back on the grass running, but I still think he’s got a little bit more time ahead of him.”
Howe on Wilson playing again this season:
“I hope so. But I can’t say with any certainty, but I hope he’ll play this season.
“It’s not a gloomy assessment, it’s more the type of injury that he’s had.”
