Sweden's head coach Janne Andersson defended Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak and his fitness on international duty. Blågult narrowly missed out on a place at the Winter World Cup in Qatar following a late goal against Poland in their play-off game, but there were high hopes heading into the current qualifying campaign.
Isak made his return to the national set-up having missed nine months through injury. The Magpies' club record transfer picked up a thigh injury on international duty earlier this season which ruled him out for a large chunk of the campaign.
However, the 23-year-old is getting closer to full fitness and scored a brace in his last outing against Nottingham Forest - with only Erling Haaland boasting a better goals-per-minute ratio. Howe insists Isak is not ready to play 90 minutes in this current Newcastle setup and Andersson is also wary of the striker still trying to return to full fitness.
.jpg?w=600)
