Newcastle United have released some official photos from Wednesday morning’s training session, but one key player is conspicuous by his absence.Eddie Howe is preparing his players to face Brentford on Saturday evening, as they look to get back to winning ways after suffering three defeats on the spin.
There have been limited numbers at the training ground over the past week due to the international break, which has resulted in youngsters like Dylan Stephenson getting called up to work with the first-team.One senior player who has not been on international duty is Sven Botman. He missed out on the Netherlands squad due to an injury he sustained in the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.The ‘outstanding‘ 23-year-old subsequently missed the trip to Brighton, and has remained on Tyneside during the international break to work on his recovery.
However, the club’s latest training pictures hint that he might not be ready to make his return just yet.No sign of Sven Botman in Newcastle trainingNewcastle uploaded 26 photos from Wednesday’s training session to their official website, with the likes of Anthony Gordon and Nick Pope taking part.However, there was no sign of Botman. The £35million defender does not feature in any of the photos that the club released, which suggests that he is yet to return to full training.If that is the case, it feels incredibly unlikely that he will be involved in Saturday night’s game at St James’ Park against Brentford.
Therefore, Howe might be forced to stick with the same back four that massively underperformed during the 3-1 loss to Brighton. On that occasion, Matt Targett took Botman’s place in the starting XI, allowing Dan Burn to move across and play as centre-back.The back four’s performance at Brighton was hugely disappointing, with both Schar and Burn receiving criticism. They will need to do much better against Brentford, as they will almost certainly play together again if Botman is not fit.
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