Your Newcastle United headlines for Friday, January 6.
Isak edging closer
Eddie Howe has revealed that Alexander Isak is back in full training after a long lay off following a thigh injury. The Swede last appeared in September but Howe was cautious when asked if he will be involved at Sheffield Wednesday.
Howe said: “Let’s get him through training today. I'm not clear because I just don't want to put pressure on him. We'll introduce him at the right time and he's getting closer all the time.
READ MORE: Everything Eddie Howe said at his press conference
"He's trained with the team so we're pleased with his process. Let's wait and see."
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Lewis going nowhere
Howe has also ruled out Jamal Lewis leaving the club despite a lack of game time for the left-back. Lewis, 24, has only played 52 minutes of senior football this season after struggling to force his way into the Magpies' rock-solid defence.
“Jamal is in a good place," the Newcastle boss told reporters on Friday. "When I first came in, he had injury problems. He had a problem with his pelvis where he went away and it got sorted.
“We have so many games ahead of us, a long season to come. Dan Burn, by his own admission, would probably want to be a centre-half, that would be his favoured position, but he’s doing really well at left-back for us.
“That only leaves us Jamal as a recognised left-back, with Paul Dummett coming back from injury and Matt Targett injured. There’s no way I’d be letting Jamal out at this moment."
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Dubravka could face Owls
Martin Dubravka could start against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend. The Slovak international is back from his loan stint with Manchester United after asking for his recall clause to be activated.
When asked about Dubravka today, Howe said: "Martin looks fine. In the very brief bits of training we’ve seen of him, because he’s only just come back from Manchester United, he’s done very well. So yeah, he’s fine to play."
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Tielemans could leave
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed the Foxes may part company with some of their out of contract stars in January. Among those players, is Toon-linked midfielder Youri Tielemans.
Rodgers told Leicester Live: "(Contracts) are something that will be a club discussion. If someone doesn’t want to be here, or someone wants too much money to be here, we have to be brave enough to say: ‘Thank you very much and on you go.’
“We’re not a club with masses of resources that can facilitate every single player’s need, especially from a financial side. A number of these guys are down on their last year, we’ve said before that we’d like them to stay.
"But there has to be a point in time where if what they want is too demanding for us as a club, and if the time is right, that they have to move on. We have to do that and then look forward.”
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Burn on big boys
Dan Burn believes Newcastle must continue to go "toe-to-toe" with the Premier League's best after taking more points off the so-called "big six" this week. The Magpies earned a hard-fought point against Arsenal on Tuesday, increasing their fine league record so far this term.
"I think you’ve got to go toe-to-toe with a lot of good teams. City and Liverpool as well," the defender said after the Arsenal stalemate. "People sort of just expect you to let them win, but there’s a lot of ways to win a football game and that’s how I thought we managed the game well."
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