Newcastle United have received a ‘unexpected’ injury boost ahead of games against Burnley and West Ham.
Joelinton has returned to Newcastle United’s starting lineup for the Carabao Cup third-round match against Manchester City.
The Brazilian had missed the previous three Newcastle games after aggravating a knee injury on international duty earlier this month. Despite only returning to full training this week, Joelinton was suddenly put back into the starting 11 and played a significant role in the 1-0 victory at St James’ Park, setting up Alexander Isak’s winner.
Howe anticipated Joeltinton would be unavailable until the trip to West Ham United next month after the 1-0 win over Brentford less than a fortnight ago. However, the midfielder returned to action sooner than expected after passing a fitness test.
“It was the plan to involve him if he was fit, and he passed that test a few days ago,” Howe explained to The Gazette. “We were thrilled to have him back because he is such an important player for us.”
“Even in the first half, he was the only player who got close to his opponents and nicked the ball for Jacob Murphy’s chance.”
“I was pleased with Joe’s performance; it was a good return to form for him.” We’re pleased because he physically looked terrific despite his limited training.”
Joelinton is back in contention to start Saturday’s Premier League encounter against Burnley (3pm kick-off). After a shaky start to the season, Newcastle have already won their past three domestic games while also drew 0-0 at AC Milan in the Champions League and have kept four straight clean sheets.
