Newcastle United released a very interesting update from their training ground on Thursday.
Eddie Howe‘s players are bracing themselves for a rare weekend off, as they continue to prepare for next Wednesday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
The Magpies were due to face Manchester United this weekend, but that game has been rescheduled for May 15th due to the Red Devils’ FA Cup commitments. Toon fans will have one eye on the competition, as a Manchester City victory would increase Newcastle’s chances of qualifying for Europe.
Pep Guardiola’s side can help Newcastle United out, but Howe knows that his team must do their job first before relying on others.
That means picking up as many points as possible from the final six games, starting against Crystal Palace.
Newcastle United striker closing in on injury comeback
And it looked like the Magpies had received a big injury boost head of next week’s trip down south.
Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie revealed that Callum Wilson was back in training, having been absent since February with a pectoral injury.
The ‘outstanding‘ 32-year-old was seen training alongside his Newcastle United teammates, while it was reported that he could potentially be involved in our next game against Crystal Palace.
That would be a huge boost, as Howe has been crying out for extra cover in attack. Alexander Isak has been Newcastle’s only striker for the last couple of months, and there has been huge pressure on him to stay fit. Fortunately he has, while he has also been incredible in front of goal.
Newcastle update casts doubt over Callum Wilson
But having Wilson back will certainly help Isak, and it will be great to see the England international back on the pitch as soon as possible.
However, the latest update from the club casts some doubt over whether or not he will be available to face Palace in the coming days.
They have uploaded 25 photos to their official website from Thursday’s training session, and Wilson has not been spotted in any of them.
The Toon number nine can not be seen taking part in training, just 24 hours after he was caught by the Sky Sports cameras.
Why Wilson may not have been seen in Newcastle training
There are a few theories as to why Wilson was not spotted in Newcastle’s official training pictures.
Firstly, he may not be ready for full contact training. While he was seen on Wednesday, he was just running alongside his teammates. There were no footballs involved, and no proper drills taking place.
Theory number two is that this is just part of his training schedule. His injury problems are well documented, which means the club needs to be extra careful when it comes to his load in training. Therefore, Thursday might just have been a day off for him.
And the third theory is that he was simply being concealed. While he was not photographed, that does not necessarily mean he was not there.
I suppose we will find out more when Howe speaks to the media next week, and hopefully he can tell us exactly what we want to hear that Wilson is ready to return. However, given Howe’s record with injury updates, that probably will not happen even if Wilson is 100% fit!
The post 'Outstanding' Newcastle United player has not been spotted in training ahead of Crystal Palace appeared first on Geordie Boot Boys.