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NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe has cast doubt over the return of Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson.
The 30-year-old suffered what was described as a “minor strain” while at the World Cup, although he was named on the bench for England’s quarterfinal loss to France.
Following United’s 2-1 friendly win over Rayo Vallecano, Howe revealed he does not believe the injury-prone frontman is still suffering with that problem, but was cryptic when asked why he held Wilson back from a United return, unlike the Magpies’ other two Three Lions.
On Wilson, Howe said: “We’ve only seen Callum briefly. I don’t want to give too much away to be honest.”
When quizzed further on his vague answer, he continued: “Callum’s come back OK. As I say, with different training loads. I don’t want to get too technical with everybody but with different training loads, we’ve just had to tread carefully with one or two players.”
United eased to victory against Rayo, who fielded Radamel Falcao and former Newcastle defender Florian Lejeune, thanks to goals from Sean Longstaff and Chris Wood. Matt Targett netted an own goal to reduce the winning margin.
Victory was claimed without the services of Wilson, as mentioned, and also Sweden international forward Alexander Isak, who has been out of action since September.
And according to Howe, it does not look like Isak, the Magpies’ club record signing, will be available when they return to competitive action on Tuesday, when Bournemouth are the visitors in the Carabao Cup.
“With Alex there was no fixed return date with him. I think we’ve just tried to look at his recovery day by day, and get him to the best physical place he can be, in the ideal time,” said Howe.
“We hope to have him fit for the Bournemouth game but that is (at this stage) looking unlikely. And then we just take it on a game-by-game basis.”
The head coach was without 16 players for the St. James’ Park friendly with key men such as Wilson, Bruno Guimaraes and Isak still sidelined.
Returning from World Cup duty with England, Kieran Trippier and Nick Pope were both thrown straight back into the action.
And the goalkeeper, who sat on the bench for all of England’s run to the quarterfinals in Qatar, was called into action early, making a smart reaction stop to deny Raul de Tomas an opener.
It did not take long for the Magpies, fresh from their trip to Riyadh, to burst into life, and it was one of this season’s success stories.
Trippier found Jacob Murphy, who laid into the midfielder in the area and faced with the sprawling Stole Dimitrievski, Longstaff lashed into the roof of the net for 1-0.
In an even affair, the La Liga high-flyers looked bright on the break but United controlled the possession for large periods, with Joe Willock and Longstaff particularly prominent. The latter had a header cleared off the line as Newcastle pushed for a second.
That second did not come until after the break, and it was Wood who netted it.
Having dropped into pockets of space with ease and impressed in his forward role, Wood got himself on the scoresheet in the second period when he hammered into the top corner from the spot after Willock was felled in the area.
And while the Magpies pushed for a third in front of another bumper home crowd, it was the visitors — who sit just two points off the Champions League spots in Spain — who netted a consolation as an Alvaro Garcia center from the left was unfortunately turned into his own net by Targett.
“It was hugely important to win the game, and we wanted to play well,” said Howe. “I thought the character of the players was important as these games aren’t always easy. The players managed themselves really well, and I thought we could’ve scored more. Most players got through unscathed and with some good minutes under their belt.”