'Will train' - Italy boss provides Sandro Tonali injury update after Newcastle United absence v Sunderland
Newcastle United injuries: Sandro Tonali will return from injury with Italy during the international break.
Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali has joined up with the Italy national team despite missing Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland due to injury.
Tonali missed Newcastle’s last two Premier League matches ahead of the international break. The 25-year-old sat out the 1-0 win at Chelsea due to a reported illness before returning to the midfield in the 7-2 Champions League defeat at Barcelona, where he was forced off with a groin injury.
That injury prevented the midfielder from featuring for Newcastle against Sunderland as Eddie Howe’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat at St James’ Park.
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Eddie Howe on Sandro Tonali absence v Sunderland
Providing an update on Tonali’s fitness after the match, Howe sad: “No, not a longer term problem but it was too quick a turnaround probably by a couple of days for him for this game.
“We missed our technicians today, Bruno [Guimaraes], Lewy [Miley] , Sandro all a very similar profile of player and we didn't have any of them and that meant our midfield was reshuffled, and the lads did their best, but I think we missed their qualities.”
Italy have since confirmed that Tonali has joined up with the national squad for the crucial World Cup play-off matches. Italy face Northern Ireland on Thursday with their World Cup qualification hopes on the line.
Should they win, they would face the winner of Bosnia & Herzegovina v Wales for a place at the 2026 World Cup. Italy haven’t featured at the World Cup finals since 2014 as Tonali looks to represent his country at a major tournament for the first time.
Sandro Tonali official injury update
While Tonali is with the Italy squad, manager Gennaro Gattuso has confirmed that the midfielder is not fully fit. And he’s not the only player.
“Scamacca has an adductor problem; we evaluate him day by day, same as Bastoni,” Gattuso said. “Tonali will train with a low workload.
"Mancini has fatigue; no issues were seen from exams. Calafiori felt a little discomfort yesterday, but we hope he’ll be there."