‘Really pleased’… Eddie Howe gives fitness update on £20m Newcastle player after his performance vs Luton

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Eddie Howe offered a fitness update on one of his key Newcastle United players after making his return from injury against Luton yesterday.

Newcastle were left frustrated by both the result and injury record, but there was one positive to take from what was a very hectic game.

Speaking to NUFCTV after the game, Howe shared a positive update on Callum Wilson who made his return from injury off of the bench in the second half coming on for Anthony Gordon.

One in one out for Newcastle this season

Newcastle have had such a difficult time with injuries this season and it really doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon with both Gordon and Alexander Isak picking up knocks in the last two games.

Wilson has missed the last month or so because of his own injury but made his return for Newcastle against Luton, and now Howe has the difficult job of keeping him fit at least until one of the other two attackers can come back in.

That’s been the hardest part of Howe’s job this season, for the most part he’s very rarely had more than one striking option available in the team with Wilson and Isak seemingly taking turns visiting the medical room.

It was good to see the £20m player back out on the pitch, but there’s just this anticipation of when he’s going to pick up his next injury and waiting to see how long it’s going to rule him out for this time.

In his interview, Howe said: “He’s a huge player he’s a huge personality, great player to have back in the group. He hasn’t had a lot of training so really pleased with how he looked when he came on. He’s a goalscorer and we need as many of them as we can get.”

Howe need Newcastle to enjoy a strong run

There are already a few on social media who are questioning Howe’s decisions, though that does not represent the opinions of the majority of Newcastle supporters.

The 46-year-old suffered a very disappointing six weeks between December and January which put a lot of pressure on him as a manager and he now needs a strong run of form to settle the ship.

It looked like things had taken a turn with the win against Aston Villa and it felt like Newcastle would really kick on from that, almost as if they had been allowed a clean slate for the rest of the season.

While this result hasn’t stopped that from happening, it has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works with the team now conceding three or more goals in their last three home games, not a record they will want to keep up.