‘A real blow’ - Newcastle United hit by fresh illness set-back as midfielder facing a month out

17-year-old Lewis Miley made his full Newcastle debut in the Carabao Cup against Manchester City last month after impressing amongst the first-team in pre-season. The teenager became The Magpies’ youngest ever Premier League player when he came off the bench against Chelsea in the final game of last season at Stamford Bridge.

But Miley has been away from full training in recent weeks after contracting glandular fever and still faces a spell on the sidelines to recover.

“He’s got glandular fever so he’s currently resting from that,” Howe revealed. “I think he’s probably a couple of weeks into what we think will be four weeks lower physical excursion but hopefully, we can build him up.”

After starting last season with Newcastle’s Under-18s side, Miley stepped up to the Under-21s while training with the first-team for the majority of the campaign.

The teeanger featured for United’s first-team in the mid-season friendlies against Al-Hilal and Rayo Vallecano before making his competitive debut at Stamford Bridge in May. And with Sandro Tonali under investigation due to alleged illegal betting, Joe Willock still recovering from injury and Bruno Guimaraes one match away from suspension, Miley’s illness doesn’t come at the best time for Howe or Newcastle.

“That’s a real blow for us and for him because he’s a real talent but at such a young age, we have to nurse him through this,” Howe added. “He’d have certainly been in and around the squad. He was before the illness. He’s a player we really like.”