Alexander Isak is a doubt for Newcastle United’s clash against Manchester City due to a broken toe, head coach Eddie Howe has confirmed.
Isak, who had an injection to manage the injury before the Fulham game last weekend, faces a late fitness test ahead of the match at St James’ Park this Saturday.
The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes of Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat at Craven Cottage, with Howe stating that the injury sounds “far worse than it is”.
“He had an injection in his toe before Fulham and was fine but he hasn’t trained much this week and we’ll see if he is able to later today,” Howe said.
“He’s had scans, he’s had lots of tests. The injury has been diagnosed fine. It sounds far worse than it is but he’s got a broken toe. It’s one that can be managed and played with providing he can manage the pain levels. That will have no long-term risks. He had injections to numb the toe last week, so that was fine until it wore off.”
Howe also confirmed that full-back Matt Targett won’t be involved in the game due to “a flare up of eczema”.
Newcastle, meanwhile, drew criticism for their performance in south west London last Saturday, with Howe being critical of his side’s defensive display.
Despite the result, Howe says that Newcastle “have a responsibility” to “deliver” a big performance for their supporters against City and is hopeful that his squad will use the pain of their recent defeat as a wake-up call.
“We always need to deliver, there’s always that pressure,” Howe said. “But we have a responsibility to show our true selves, show up and give our best. The players know that last week wasn’t good enough.
“That internal reflection can be really healthy and sometimes a performance like that can be useful for you in the long term if you use in the right way. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Newcastle go into their game against Pep Guardiola’s team sixth in the Premier League table.
(Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
