Steve Bruce has one less worry at Newcastle United as Miguel Almiron is spared gruelling journey

Steve Bruce last week spoke about the “ludicrous” possibility of Almiron, recovering from a knee injury, having to make the journey to Paraguay for two World Cup qualifiers later this month amid a global pandemic.

Almiron would have had to quarantine for 10 days on his return to England, and Premier League clubs, understandably, were reluctant to release their players. However, that decision has been taken out of their hands following the decision of CONMEBOL to postpone this months qualifiers over Covid-19 and quarantine concerns.

A statement read: "CONMEBOL decided to suspend the double date of the qualifiers scheduled for March. The decision is due to the impossibility of having all the South American players in a timely manner.

“FIFA will analyse the rescheduling of the date, in coordination with CONMEBOL and the member associations. Soon, the different options for holding the matches will be studied."

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