Man Cityvs.Newcastle

The Magpies are in high spirits after back-to-back domestic cup victories, beating Arsenal 2-0 in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final - and winning 4-0 on aggregate - before winning 3-2 at Birmingham City in the fourth round of the FA Cup last weekend.

Both Anthony Gordon (thigh) and Sven Botman (knee) missed Newcastle's FA Cup win, while Dan Burn was withdrawn with a groin problem at St Andrews, raising concerns over his fitness.

However, Howe has delivered a reassuring update on the Magpies trio, confirming that all three players have managed to avoid picking up a serious injury.

While both Gordon and Burn could be in contention to feature on Saturday, Botman is set to miss the Premier League encounter with Man City, but he is not facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Howe delivers latest Newcastle injury update

Discussing the availability of Gordon, Botman and Burn at a press conference on Friday, Howe said: "[Gordon] should be fine. He's trained this week, no problems. It was a thigh problem, but he responded well to treatment over the weekend, and he's trained.

"Good news on the scan that [Botman] had after the injury - we don't think there's any long term issue there. Short term, there's a still a bit of pain there for him, so we think he'll miss this weekend but hopefully won't be far away for the following games.

"The initial outlook on Dan wasn't positive, but he had a scan and the scan was good. He's improved a lot very quickly this week so he'll be very close this weekend."

Meanwhile, Joelinton has missed Newcastle's last two games with a knee injury and still needs time to make a full recovery, with Howe hopeful that the Brazilian will return for the EFL Cup final next month.

"We hope by that time (of the EFL Final) he will be back fit and available," said Howe. "He is very driven to get back. Joe is making good progress.

Joelinton, Botman, Lascelles, Barnes are all sidelined

"When he approaches his injury, he is very positive to get back and shave time off the estimated target that he has been given, which is a great thing.

"But also, we need to control that and make sure that he comes back in a really good place. He is very positive at the moment."

Joelinton remains in the treatment room with Botman, Jamaal Lascelles (knee) and Harvey Barnes (muscle), the latter of whom is closing in on a return, though.

"He's not far [away] - he's done really well," Howe added. "We're really pleased with how he's looked, so he's another player who's close to being in contention."

Newcastle travel to the Etihad Stadium sitting sixth in the Premier League table and level on points with fifth-placed Man City, who also share the same goal difference, while there are just two points separating both teams from fourth-placed Chelsea, who take on Brighton on Friday night.

Written by

Oliver Thomas