MATT TARGETT is back in training with Newcastle United – and is closing in on a first-team return.

Targett has been sidelined with a heel injury, and has not featured in the Magpies’ first team since he came off the bench in the home win over Chelsea in mid-November.

He has not started a league game since September’s draw with Bournemouth, with Dan Burn having established himself as Newcastle’s first-choice left-back in his absence.

Burn will take some dislodging from his current position, but Targett’s return would at least give Eddie Howe the option of moving his current left-back back inside to centre-half if he wanted to.

Howe said: “Matt’s running. He’s in the early stages of ball work and out on the grass, which is a great thing for us to see. He’s a huge player.”

On the opposite side of the back four, Newcastle are without the injured Javier Manquillo, with the Spaniard’s absence having played a role in the decision to sign Harrison Ashby from West Ham.

Howe said: “He just got a ball on the end of his foot, which has twisted his knee slightly. It’s a strange mechanism.

“He’s been away in Spain and had a couple of injections. I think he’s back here tomorrow and we hope, from there, we can build him up quite quickly.”

Emil Krafth was included in the 25-man squad list that was published by the Premier League this week, but the Swede continues to recover from a serious knee ligament injury and Howe does not think there is much chance of him being available before the end of the campaign.

He said: “There’s a very slim chance, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope of seeing him before the end of the season.”