'World class' Newcastle United man 'missing' from training ahead of Man City as teenage duo called-up

The postponement of Newcastle’s Carabao Cup match at AFC Wimbledon meant it was a free week for Eddie Howe’s side to prepare for the Premier League champions at St James’ Park. The Magpies head into the match on the back of their first defeat of the season at Fulham last weekend.

Newcastle were beaten 3-1 at Craven Cottage and missed the opportunity to go top of the Premier League as Manchester City remained in first place. After a disjointed start to the season in terms of performances, Howe has now had an international break and another to get his squad up to speed ahead of a tough test at St James’ Park.

Manchester City will be without key midfielder Rodri for the match while Kevin De Bruyne remains a serious doubt due to injury. Newcastle also have some injury concerns themselves, with the latest training pictures raising potential concerns.

Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles, Callum Wilson and Lewis Miley were all absent from training this week as they recover from their respective injuries.

There was once again no sign of Matt Targett after the defender had seemingly recovered from an Achilles injury that ended his 2023-24 campaign early. The 29-year-old hasn’t featured for Newcastle since last November due to various injury issues.

One player who noticeably wasn’t pictured in training was last season’s top scorer Alexander Isak. The 25-year-old was a doubt for the previous match at Fulham with a toe injury but managed to get through the 90 minutes.

“He was fully fit, he was happy to play,” Howe said after the defeat. “He trained [Friday] and there were no issues.

“He’s not as involved as we want him to be, he’s not having the impact in the games we want him to have and what he is capable of doing so hence the tactical reshuffle at half-time.

“We tried to get players nearer to him. It’s one for me to think about.”

Isak was described as ‘world-class’ by Howe as he scored 25 goals for Newcastle last season. But this season has been more of a struggle with just one goal in his first six appearances.

With players on individual training plans and Isak having missed the majority of training last week, a rest for Wednesday’s session is not cause for concern just yet - but it does raise questions over his fitness heading into Saturday’s match.

With 20-year-old defender Alex Murphy returning to training following an injury issue, Howe has also called-up 17-year-old duo Trevan Sanusi and Leo Shahar to first-team training once again this week in preparation for the City match.

Both players have impressed since stepping up to Under-21s level and have represented England at Under-18s level recently.