Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has dropped an early team news hint ahead of their upcoming Carabao Cup clash against Bournemouth.
The Lowdown: Newcastle beat Rayo Vallecano
The Magpies recently beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 at St James' Park in their latest friendly ahead of the return of domestic football this week.
Goals from Chris Wood and Sean Longstaff sealed victory for the Toon, who are now set to take on the Cherries in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
Looking ahead to the cup clash against Howe's former side, the Newcastle boss shared a hint over what his team could look like once Tuesday comes around.
The Latest: Howe's team news hint
Speaking after their latest friendly win (via Chronicle Live), Howe shared some insight on the fitness situation surrounding Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson ahead of the midweek Carabao Cup clash, sounding an ominous note on the former in particular.
He said: "With Alex, there was no fixed return date on him. I think the medical team have just tried to look at his recovery day by day, and try and get him in the best physical place he can be in the ideal time.
"We hoped to have him fit and available for the Bournemouth game, but I don’t think that’s going to look likely. We’ll just take it on a game-by-game basis. It’s a difficult one.
"We haven’t got a return date on him. He's with the medical team at the moment, and he’s working hard and making progress. I can’t give you a return date."
"We've only seen Callum briefly, but I don't want to give too much away, to be honest."
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The Verdict: A concern for Howe
Isak has been out of action since October with a hamstring injury, whereas some fitness concerns were raised over Wilson during his time with England at the World Cup in Qatar.
With domestic football set to return in the coming days, potentially not having Isak and Wilson available would certainly be a big concern for Howe.
If that were to be the case, Newcastle would have to rely on Wood as their only other senior striker to do the business and try to avoid picking up any injuries along the way.
It's safe to say that Howe and all the Newcastle supporters fill have their fingers crossed that Wilson will be fine to get back on the pitch over the next few days, and that Isak will recover from his long-term issue as quickly as possible.