Newcastle United are hoping to have Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak available for Wednesday night’s trip to Manchester United (8pm kick-off).
The attacking duo missed training on Monday as The Magpies prepare for the trip to Old Trafford. A result for Newcastle against Man United would effectively confirm a top-seven finish.
It would also be the first time Newcastle had ever finished above Manchester United in the Premier League era.
But Newcastle head into the match with their only two senior strikers short of fitness. Wilson missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion due to illness while Isak was withdrawn shortly after the hour mark having suffered with illness himself.
Both players subsequently sat out Monday’s training session, as confirmed by head coach Eddie Howe in his Tuesday morning press conference.
When asked if Wilson would be available against Manchester United, Howe said: “We'll see, we haven't seen Callum yet. We'll see if he's available to train today. If not, he'll be available for Brentford.”
On Isak, Howe added: “He didn't train [Monday] but we'll see if he trains today. Fingers crossed he will.
“He wasn't feeling 100% and I think you could see that. We knew on Friday that he was slightly under the weather.”
Newcastle published an official training gallery of Monday’s session on the club website with both Wilson and Isak not featured. In their absence, 19-year-old Ben Parkinson was pictured in action at Darsley Park with the first-team squad.
As a disclaimer, a player not featuring in the club gallery is not a guarantee they did not train on any given day. But a players presence or absence can be an indicator for potential team and injury news heading into upcoming matches.
Here is a list of Newcastle United’s players based on whether they were pictured in training or not this week...
29. Amadou Diallo - not pictured
The 20-year-old has trained with the Newcastle first-team on occasions and even made his Premier League debut earlier this season. | Getty Images
31. Lucas De Bolle - not pictured
Has previously been called-up to first-team training. Photo: Laurence Griffiths
32. Alfie Harrison - not pictured
The 18-year-old attacking-midfielder joined from Manchester City in January and has quickly established himself with the Under-21s side, but was not pictured in training with the first-team training this week. | Wolves via Getty Images