Good news on Yoane Wissa

It’s been a far from ideal start to Yoane Wissa’s career at Newcastle United since the striker sealed a £55m move from Brentford on deadline day.

The 29-year-old suffered a knee injury on international duty, forcing him to miss our last three games against Wolves, Barcelona and Bournemouth.

There were fears he could need surgery and initial worries it might’ve been an ACL issue. However, it seems Wissa is still on track to be back after the next international break after some positive comments from Eddie Howe this morning.

The boss has confirmed that he’s on Tyneside receiving treatment and will NOT need an operation, revealing there is “hope h can be fit and available” for the first game after the break; a trip to Brighton on 18th October. Howe said:

“He’s here. He’s receiving treatment and no operation is needed.

“I think we’re looking at the other side of the international break.

“We hope he can be fit and available for that first game.”

“I think it’s not a long-term injury. We’ll get through the next few games and then he’ll be back.”

This means Wissa will still miss another four games – Bradford, Arsenal, Union SG and Nottingham Forest – but it is a relief to hear the injury is not as serious as first feared following his awkward fall on DR Congo duty.

This leaves Nick Woltemade to lead the line over the next few weeks, even if Will Osula is likely to get a rare start in tomorrow night’s Carabao Cup clash with Bradford City.

On Woltemade, Howe praised parts of the big man’s performance at Bournemouth on Sunday, hailing his link up play, but accepting that we need to do more to create opportunities for the 6ft 6″ striker:

“I thought overall he had a decent game. Some of his link play in the build-up was really good.

“He was a focal point that we needed and enabled us to get higher up the pitch.

“As a team we didn’t function particularly well in the attacking half. There’s no denying that, we weren’t creating chances for him.”