Newcastle United star confirmed to miss two more matches as defender returns after injury absence

Sweden manager Janne Andersson has provided a fitness update on Newcastle United duo Alexander Isak and Emil Krafth.

Isak has missed Newcastle's last four matches with a groin injury suffered in the 1-0 defeat at home to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last month while Krafth has only recently returned from a 14-month ACL injury absence from the first-team.

Krafth started at centre-back for Newcastle's 3-0 Carabao Cup victory at Manchester United last week in what was his first competitive appearance since August 2022.

Due to his injury, Isak has been left out of the Sweden squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Estonia while Krafth returns to the national squad after more than a year away. Sweden cannot qualify for next summer's tournament in Germany.

“It has been a long rehab for him [Emil Krafth] and now he has been in full training for quite some time," Andersson said.

“So he is in good shape. He had a great game last week [against Manchester United] at centre-back.”

Isak was spotted back in light training at the Newcastle training ground on Monday with head coach Eddie Howe hoping to have the £63million forward back available following the international break.

And Andersson passed his message from Isak following the announcement of the Sweden squad.

“The rehab is going well he [Alexander Isak] says, so it is good," the Sweden manager added. “Hopefully it won’t take that long [for Isak to be fully fit] but he was not available to be here.”