Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has said that he will make a late call on the fitness of winger Anthony Gordon before naming his team for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final trip to holders Manchester City.
Gordon, who received his first senior England call-up on Thursday, was forced off in the first half of the Magpies' 3-2 defeat at Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday after sustaining a knee injury.
However, Howe has confirmed that the 23-year-old briefly took part in a training session on Thursday and is hopeful that the winger will be available for selection against Man City.
"It was a strange one. Initially, when you see a player come off like that, you do fear there's a serious injury but he partly trained yesterday," Howe said at a press conference on Friday.
"He joined in, seemed okay and I don't think he did anything serious which is great news for us. We train again today and we'll do a full session. We'll make a judgement after that.
"There was a feeling of relief regarding him. It's been a rare feeling for us that we've had one go that way. Most of the time, it has gone the other way when things don't look serious and it's turned out to be more complicated than we first thought so I'm delighted because he has been integral to our success."
© Reuters
Howe has also revealed that midfielder Sean Longstaff has been playing through the pain barrier with a foot injury sustained last season, and has required injections to get himself through matches.
"Sean needs to train regularly to get his best rhythm. I think his training in the last few weeks has been disrupted by an ongoing foot problem he first received against Everton at the end of last season," said Howe.
"Last week he had an injection but did train, but late in the week. That is always difficult for any player when their training week is disrupted.
"Sean has had some really good games for us this season and he is a really important player. He has game intelligence and his understanding of what we want from him is of the highest level.
"I back him, I back his ability and I know how good he is. He is integral to us when he's at his very best but I do think he needs to train regularly to get his best rhythm."
Howe has defended his decision to regularly select Longstaff knowing that he has been struggling with an injury, adding: "I have had no other midfielders to play. I would have rested Sean for sure during this period. I've also got to look after Lewis Miley, he is 17. Elliot Anderson hasn't been available, Sandro Tonali hasn't been available."
© Reuters
Longstaff will be available for selection on Saturday, but one player who will not make the trip to the Etihad Stadium is Harvey Barnes, who missed the defeat at Chelsea with a hamstring injury.
"Harvey won't make the squad (for tomorrow) but we hope he'll be back for West Ham (on March 30)," said Howe. "He was very down after the Wolves game because he knew he'd just felt something in his hamstring which is going to take a period of time to get right.
"He's desperate to do well for Newcastle. You saw his quality when he came on against Luton and scored instantly. He is a goalscorer. We've missed him when he's not been available. I know the qualities he has and I'm desperate for him to show that to everybody on a consistent basis.
"He is back on the grass already so we hope he can be back and have a positive impact towards the end of the season."
Meanwhile, Howe has delivered an update on Nick Pope's recovery from a shoulder injury that has kept the goalkeeper sidelined since December.
© Reuters
"April is his target," the Magpies boss added. "Now, I think that will be more towards the end of April than the beginning. He's making good solid progress.
"He is out on the grass but not necessarily diving but he's doing lots of other little bits. Diving is a big test for his shoulder and that's probably the next stage of where he'll start implementing that back into his game and he's got to get his sharpness back.
"I think he's entering the final furlong in terms of his comeback. He's pleased with where he's at but he's still got a lot of hurdles to go through."
Pope and Barnes are joined in the treatment room by Callum Wilson (pectoral), Joelinton (thigh) and Kieran Trippier (calf), while Tonali (suspended) and Joe White (cup-tied) are both unavailable.
Dan Burn was taken off in the second half of Newcastle's defeat at Chelsea with a knock, and although he was not mentioned by Howe at Friday's press conference, the defender is expected to be fit for the clash at Man City.
No Data Analysis info
