Newcastle United call up 17-year-old duo to training for Brighton as Alexander Isak hint dropped
Newcastle United once again turned to academy players to bolster their numbers in training ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup clash against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Newcastle host Brighton at St James’ Park in the FA Cup fifth round and head into the game sweating on the fitness of some key players. Alexander Isak (groin), Joelinton (knee) and Sven Botman (knee) are all officially doubts for the match.
Joelinton and Botman have missed the last five and four matches respectively while Isak was a late withdrawal from Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool. Eddie Howe confirmed that Botman and Joelinton were yet to train ahead of his press conference on Friday morning but admitted that Friday’s session would be ‘big’ for them in proving their fitness ahead of Sunday’s match.
But the £138million Newcastle trio were not pictured in training in the club’s official gallery showing Friday’s session at Darsley Park. A player not being included in the club’s training gallery isn’t always an indicator of their availability for their upcoming game - but the players who are pictured can often drop important hints.
Other players not pictured in the training gallery on Friday were Nick Pope and Tino Livramento.
Newcastle United call up academy players to train
Newcastle once again called upon 17-year-old forward Sean Neave to train with the first team this week. Neave was named on the bench for the FA Cup fourth-round win at Birmingham City.
His involvement hints at the absence of key players from the session ahead of Sunday’s match.
17-year-old right-back Leo Shahar was also pictured in training with the first team. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers academy graduate has frequently been called up to train with the senior pros this season having signed his first progressional deal at Newcastle last year.
Shahar has featured for Newcastle in first-team friendly matches but is yet to make his competitive debut for the club.
Newcastle are facing an important run of fixtures and will be looking to have a near fully fit squad before they return to Premier League action at West Ham United on March 10. After that it’s the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on March 16.
What Eddie Howe said about Newcastle United’s injuries
While Jamaal Lascelles has been ruled out until the back end of the season with an ACL injury, Botman, Joelinton and Isak are understood to be close to returning.
On Botman and Joelinton, head coach Howe said: “They have a chance. [Friday] is a big day for them really, because I think we'll see how close they are, whether they train with the team for the first time or not.
“But knowing both players, they'll be very keen to be involved, as long as their respective injuries feel good.”
On Isak’s fitness, Howe said: "I haven’t seen him since the game, we don’t think it is a long-term problem, but there was no risk taken on Wednesday and there can’t be at this stage of the season.
“We will see how he is today and have a discussion with him, if he is fit, he will play.”