Newcastle United have been gifted a major injury boost before they play Nottingham Forest at home in their opening game of the new Premier League season.

The Lowdown: Excitement building

There is certainly excitement building among supporters as the first weekend of the new top-flight campaign gets underway.

With the signings of Nick Pope, Sven Botman and Matt Targett, the Toon Army may be confident of achieving a top-half finish this year, and with one or two more signings, they could even push for the European places.

However, their first hurdle will be a tricky one, as they take on newly-promoted Forest, who have made many new signings themselves and will have a buzz around the squad after returning to the Premier League after so long away.

The Latest: Injury news

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match, Eddie Howe revealed that while he is unsure how long Jonjo Shelvey will be out for, both Jamal Lewis and Federico Fernandez are not far away in terms of their recoveries, while Javier Manquillo is 'back in training':

"Jonjo is in London tonight for another assessment so we don't have a clear, defined timeframe on his injury.

"Jamal Lewis and Federico Fernandez are working their way and shouldn't be too long. Manquillo is back in training too so we're not too bad."

The Verdict: Boost

It is certainly a boost for the St. James' Park outfit that three squad players could be returning quickly in time for the new season.

Manquillo, Fernandez and Lewis racked up 34 appearances in total between them over all competitions last term, and with Shelvey missing and the new signings needing time to gel, they could be important squad members for the next few weeks.

Nonetheless, the Magpies will want to get off to the perfect start by clinching all three points against Forest, and perhaps Manquillo could play some role off the bench if the returning Kieran Trippier needs a rest after an hour or so.