Newcastle have TEN first-team players unavailable for today’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth, with Callum Wilson facing a late fitness test on his tight hamstring.
Bruno Guimaraes is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in last weekend’s 1-0 win over Arsenal, Alexander Isak is due back after the international break and Sven Botman is still recovering from a knee injury after seeing a specialist in the Netherlands this week.
Harvey Barnes is ahead of schedule on his comeback from a toe injury, but he will miss out once again along with Jacob Murphy (dislocated shoulder), Dan Burn (back), Matt Targett (hamstring), Elliot Anderson (back), Sandro Tonali (banned), Javier Manquillo (groin). Many of those are long-term injuries, with Burn, Targett, Murphy facing two to three months on the sidelines.
As for Bournemouth, £25m summer signing Alex Scott has been ruled out with a knee injury picked up in their 6-1 defeat to Man City last weekend, while Tyler Adams, Ryan Fredericks and Emiliano Marcondes remain out for the Cherries.
Personally, I’d be surprised if we risked Wilson. He’s had several hamstring issues since he joined the club and could become the latest player to be ruled out until the New Year if he played and aggravated the issue. With Isak still managing a groin problem and EIGHT games to come in a hectic December, we can’t take big risks with our top scorer.
