Newcastle United official training ground update as £35m star ruled out v Aston Villa

There were fears Botman’s season could be over after he was forced to undergo surgery on a niggling knee issue that sidelined him for over a month following the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Arsenal.

Botman was given a six-to-eight-week recovery period from his surgery and is now approaching six weeks since his operation.

But the defender has suffered various issues with his knees over the past two seasons with two ACL injuries last season prior to his latest blow.

Sven Botman Newcastle United injury update

Earlier in the week, Jason Tindall suggested Botman was ‘ahead of schedule’ and would be back in contention ‘very soon’.

But when asked if the defender would be available for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday (5:30pm kick-off), Tindall told The Gazette: “Certainly not this weekend. It's too soon for him this weekend.

“But, as I said, he's ahead of schedule. He's on the grass now. He's joining in some parts of training. So maybe next weekend [against Ipswich Town], possibly, he could be involved or could be there for selection.

“But again, that will be assessed over the coming days. But we're certainly really, really pleased with his progress.”

Newcastle will be hoping for no fresh injury blows in the coming weeks with Botman closing in on a return and Jamaal Lascelles pushing to be back before the end of the season. Lewis Hall remains sidelined for the rest of the campaign following surgery on his foot.

The Magpies have also been boosted by Joelinton avoiding a potential two-match suspension by remaining on nine yellow cards after 32 matches following Wednesday’s 5-0 win over Crystal Palace. Had the Brazilian picked up his 10th booking of the season he would have been banned against Villa and Ipswich.

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Newcastle United looking to secure Champions League qualification

Newcastle head into Saturday’s match sitting third in the Premier League table, the club’s highest position since September.

They are five points inside the Champions League places and five points ahead of Aston Villa. A seventh straight victory in all competitions would put The Magpies in an excellent position to qualify for the Champions League heading into the final five games of the season.

Having won each of their last six matches with the same starting line-up, Newcastle are unlikely to make many if any changes to the starting 11 at Villa Park.

“When you are in good form and you are winning games, it then does become difficult to change your team unless you feel players are not performing within that winning team,” Tindall said.

“I don't think anyone can say that because the players are collectively and individually delivering excellent performances. So, in some sense, the team does pick itself.

“We've got a fantastic squad, we've got some good players on the bench and everybody's played their part this season and everybody is going to need to play their part for the remaining six games and I'm sure they will do.

“Obviously sometimes it's easy to get frustrated when you're not playing. But I always think you have to put yourself in the shoes of the player that's playing in front of you and what would they want and what would you want?

“Testament and credit to the players. They support each other, they're behind each other. We're going to need that again for the remaining games.”

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