Newcastle manager Steve Bruce delivered a mixed injury update ahead of his side’s FA Cup replay against Rochdale on Tuesday evening.
Bruce confirmed that key players Jonjo Shelvey and Allan Saint-Maximin returned to training but will not be fit enough to feature against Rochdale.
The Toons are faced with an injury crisis which worsened at the weekend with injuries to Paul Dummett and Dwight Gayle.
The duo underwent scans after being forced off in the first half in Saturday’s draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“Obviously Dummett and Gayle will have scans this morning – they’ll not be involved tomorrow, but we’ve got one or two back on the grass. Allan Saint-Maximin is back training – he’s trained for the last two days. I think tomorrow will be a bit early, the same goes for Shelvey, so instead of 12 or 13 we’ve probably got eight or nine (out), so things are looking up.
Steve Bruce on Monday on Newcastle’s injury crisis
Fabian Schar (thigh), Yoshinori Muto (groin), DeAndre Yedlin (knee), Ki Sung-Yeung (other), Jamaal Lascelles (knee), Joelinton (groin), Javi Manquillo (hamstring), Jack Colback (knee), and Emil Krafth (other) are other absentees unavailable for selection for Bruce.
Bruce welcomed back Rolando Aarons and Liam Gibson from loan spells at Wycombe and Grimsby respectively but neither of them can take the field agaist Rochdale having featured in the FA Cup already this season.
The draw with Wolves marked the end of three consecutive league defeats and left Newcastle in 13th place, only five points above the relegation zone.
The reverse fixture ended in a 1-1 draw with Miguel Almiron’s opener being cancelled out by Aaron Wilbraham.
The winner of tonight’s replay will face league two outfit Oxford United in the fourth round on 25th January.
