Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has delivered an update on the fitness of defender Sven Botman ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
Botman has not played for the Magpies since suffering an ACL injury in March last year against Manchester City, and since undergoing surgery has been working his way back to full fitness.
The 24-year-old returned to full team training last month and played for 60 minutes in an Under-21s fixture against Chelsea on December 16 - his first appearance in nine months.
Ahead of this weekend's trip to North London, Howe has revealed that Botman is in contention to make his long-awaited first-team return and is even "in and around my thoughts" to start.
Newcastle will be without Fabian Schar who is serving the first of a two-match suspension, while both Emil Krafth and Jamaal Lascelles remain sidelined with respective shoulder and knee injuries.
One of Botman or Lloyd Kelly is therefore expected to start in central defence alongside Dan Burn; a start for Kelly would see Howe select two left-footed defenders, while a start for right-footed Botman would provide a greater balance to his backline.
Botman in contention to start for Newcastle vs. Spurs
Speaking about Botman at a press conference on Friday, Howe said: "I always said Sven will be in and around the Christmas games. He has worked incredibly hard to get himself into a good condition. He has had three games, he is in and around my thoughts.
"I will have to make a decision on who best fits that position, but it is great to have Sven back around. If Sven is in the squad, it is because he is fit and ready."
Asked if he would be worried about throwing Botman straight back into the starting lineup, Howe added: "No, you go through a process with the type of injury that Sven has had, he's done an incredible amount of work. It's not like he hasn't had the training time with us.
"We've taken maybe longer than we would have done with respect for the injury he's had and so he hits the ground running. I've got a decision to make in terms of team selection but, if Sven's in the squad, it's because he's fit and available."
On Kelly and his lack of first-team opportunities since joining from Bournemouth in the summer, Howe said: "They have [been limited] but that's down to the form of the lads who has played. He's a versatile player who can play in a lot of positions.
"The form of Dan and Fab in the heart of defence has been strong, especially recently. I prefer to keep a settled back four and not change too much. I think that area of the pitch is about building relationships. Lloyd is training hard, training well and he's waiting for his chance."
Newcastle, who are still coping without Nick Pope (knee) and Callum Wilson (thigh) as well as Schar, Krafth and Lascelles, currently sit fifth in the Premier League table and are bidding to win their fifth straight match. body check tags ::
