Newcastle United fresh footage drops major Yoane Wissa & Sandro Tonali update hours ahead of Burnley clash
Newcastle United have received a double injury boost ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Burnley.
The first two Newcastle United players to arrive at St James’ Park ahead of the match were two injury doubts.
Yoane Wissa had been out since September with a PCL injury and is yet to make his Newcastle debut. The forward, who joined from Brentford on deadline day for £55million, is yet to make his debut for the club but has stepped up his recovery this month and is set to be named in the matchday squad for the first time.
The forward has been back in training and taken part in two practice matches this past week but hasn’t played a competitive match at club level since May.
Another player who was a concern ahead of the match was Sandro Tonali. The Italian midfielder was forced off at half-time in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur with a knock.
But after a scan showed no injury, Tonali returned to training and has kept his place in the matchday squad for the match.
On Friday, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said on Tonali: “[Tonali] has had a scan.We don't think it's too bad.
“So, we're giving him every chance to declare himself fit, if possible. It was a knock, very similar to Joelinton's suffered, sort of a similar fate, sort of dead leg type feeling.
“But Sandro’s injury was concerning enough for him to get scanned. We'll see how he is today. And, yeah, give him every chance to be fit.”
Yoane Wissa spotted at St James’ Park
Wissa trained on Friday ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match for Burnley.
But when asked if Wissa would be in the squad, Howe said: “I don’t know. We have another training session and I’ll assess all the players.
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“He’s looked good. I think we’ve seen all the qualities we saw at Brentford – his movement is very good, he’s quick, he’s sharp, he’s got that low centre of gravity. I think already you can see he’ll build good relationships with the players around him.
“I’ve been really happy with what he’s done. Is he at 100 per cent his best physical condition? Probably not.
“But I think that will take some time, it’s similar with other players that come back from injury, you’ve seen Lewis Hall going down with cramp towards the end of games. Ideally with Lewis, we’d probably have had longer to build him up, but we don’t have that luxury.
“With so many games, we need the squad fit and ready, and hopefully Yoane will have a big part to play.”
Wissa was then the first Newcastle player to arrive at St James’ Park, followed by Tonali shortly after.
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Yoane Wissa had already teased NUFC return
While Howe was understandably coy over Wissa’s involvement, the player himself delivered a not-so-subtle hint via his Instagram account on Saturday morning.
In a post made around four hours before kick-off, Wissa posted a photograph of himself in a Newcastle shirt holding a clapperboard with his name on, suggesting ‘action’ is close.
He also added the caption ‘story’ with a book and clapperboard emoji.
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Wissa scored 19 goals for Brentford in the Premier League last season, with only Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah of Liverpool scoring more from open play. He will be looking to make an impact for The Magpies as they look to push up the table and progress in both the Carabao Cup and Champions League in the coming weeks.