Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has confirmed that Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak will both miss Saturday's Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest due to injury.
Isak was forced off in the first half of the Magpies' 3-1 win at Aston Villa at the end of January with a groin injury, and the striker subsequently missed last weekend's 4-4 home draw with Luton Town.
Gordon, meanwhile, was substituted at half time in that draw with the Hatters after sustaining an ankle injury, and the winger was later spotted leaving St James' Park on crutches.
Although an appearance at the City Ground this weekend will come too soon for the pair, Howe is hopeful that Gordon's injury is not a serious one, while he has also revealed that Isak is "making good progress" in his rehabilitation.
Speaking about both players at a press conference on Friday, Howe said: "[Gordon] hasn't trained this week. We don't think the injury is serious – we hope he is back sooner than later.
"[Isak] won't make this game. We hope he won't be too far away for the following games, but he doesn't have a fixed return date yet. He is making good progress – the injury isn't as serious as first feared."
Howe has also issued a fitness update on midfield duo Joe Willock and Elliot Anderson, who have spent lengthy periods on the sidelines with respective calf and back injuries.
"They're doing well at this moment in time," said Howe. "Joe's working really hard – he's not trained with the group yet, but he's working really hard with the sport science team. He's in that final stage of his rehab and we hope he can be back pretty soon."
"Elliot's not far away either. He's had good news on his scan a while ago and he's now really kicked up his running, so both players are getting closer."
Meanwhile, Howe has also spoken about the return to fitness of Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes, who both recovered from respective calf and foot injuries to feature as second-half substitutes in the draw against Luton.
"[Wilson] has trained well this week – we've been really pleased with him," said the Magpies boss. "I thought he did well last week in a 45-minute cameo.
"Prior to that game he hadn't really trained a great deal with the team, so he was again thrust back into action really. But he looks good, he's getting his sharpness back, and he's had a good week in front of goal.
"[Barnes] has worked incredibly hard, it has been frustrating for him. I know he's had that frustration internally, for a long time, where he just didn't feel right. He was working hard and still just feeling some sensations in his foot.
"You saw his quality – what a finish that was on his wrong side, from that distance. He only had a really small part of the goal to aim at, and he finished it brilliantly – and in that moment, sort of summed up what we have missed from potential substitutes when you're struggling in a game and you need to change the flow of the game, the momentum. We haven't had those options for a number of weeks, and it was a big moment for us."
Nick Pope (shoulder), Matt Targett (thigh) and Sandro Tonali (suspended) are three Newcastle players who remain unavailable for selection, while former Forest man Jamaal Lascelles (calf) is set to be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Newcastle, who lost 3-1 at home to Forest in the reverse fixture on Boxing Day last year, currently sit ninth in the Premier League table and could climb into the top seven if they claim maximum points on Saturday and other results go their way. body check tags ::
