Eddie Howe’s Joelinton injury U-turn as Newcastle United prepare for £145m boost

Newcastle drew 2-2 at West Ham United on Sunday with several key players missing from the match. Joelinton, Joe Willock and Sven Botman were all ruled out due to injury while Anthony Gordon was suspended for the match.

The Magpies came from behind following an early Tomas Soucek goal to lead 2-1 thanks to an Alexander Isak brace. Mohammed Kudus then grabbed an 89th minute equaliser to draw The Hammers level at the London Stadium.

A hectic three weeks has seen Newcastle pick up five wins and two draws in seven matches, including a 4-1 Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain and an 8-0 win at Sheffield United - the club’s joint biggest victory in the Premier League.

In the context of recent form and The Magpies having a number of key players missing, Howe felt the draw at West Ham was a ‘positive’ one despite the late goal conceded.

“We’re missing some big players and that makes the result all the more positive for us,” Howe said. “When you’re stretched, you need the depth of your squad and we’ve shown that, the players that have come in have been brilliant for us.”

Newcastle welcomed Callum Wilson back from injury in the match as the striker came off the bench in the closing stages. Ahead of the match, Howe claimed that Joelinton was a doubt for the match but close to a return from a hamstring injury.

After the match, The Magpies boss revealed the Brazilian is still yet to return to training but hopes to have him back after the international break against Crystal Palace.

“Ultimatley he wasn’t close,” Howe told The Gazette. “He hasn’t trained with us yet and hopefully for the next game he will be back.

“We missed Joelinton and we’ve definitely missed Joe Willock for such a long time. Sven [Botman], Anthony [Gordon], these players can make a difference in a tight game like that when we’re fatigued at 2-1 up.

“So that’s obviously that’s something we have to look at and hopefully we’ll have those players back in the next two weeks.”