‘Unclear’ - Newcastle United fresh fitness claim after player ruled out for five months with injury

The 24-year-old came on as a second half substitute in Newcastle’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night. But Magpies head coach Eddie Howe revealed after the game that Willock’s introduction was forced by the injury to Jacob Murphy.

And with Newcastle’s injuries piling up and Sandro Tonali set for a 10-month ban from football, Willock’s availability comes at a good time for Howe.

“Huge for us, it has been a long time,” Howe admitted. “Joe is an infectious character, very popular around the training ground. He has the goalscoring and running capabilities that suit our style.

“It’s early days but hopefully he can get that match sharpness back.”

Willock has travelled with the Newcastle squad to face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday (5:30pm kick-off), but Howe remained coy on whether the midfielder was ready to start matches just yet.

“Slightly unclear I’d say because he hasn’t a huge body of training,” The Magpies boss told The Gazette. “He has trained and has trained for a period of time and he’s spent a lot of time with the sports science team and the physios.

“We haven’t rushed him back, we’ve taken our time with it and hopefully that shows. He’s a fit lad anyway and he’ll be desperate to play but I have to choose the right moment to introduce him to the team.”

Newcastle have a busy fixture schedule with matches against Wolves, Manchester United, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and AFC Bournemouth to come in the next fortnight.