JOELINTON has shaken off the injury that forced him to limp out of the action in Newcastle's defeat to Manchester City, and the midfielder looks set to feature against Liverpool on Sunday.
The knock suffered at the Etihad forced the Brazilian to miss a couple of days of training but it was only a minor problem.
"Joe is fine," confirmed head coach Eddie Howe in his press conference on Friday morning.
"We didn't see him in the early part of the week but he trained in the latter part so fingers crossed he's OK."
Newcastle will again be without Joe Willock against Liverpool on Sunday but the former Arsenal midfielder is making good progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Willock hasn't played this season as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered at the end of last term, but Howe hopes to have him back in training during the coming international break.
"He's making good progress," said the head coach.
"This is the strongest he's looked in terms of his hamstring. He had his hamstring rescanned a couple of days ago and the report back was very good, no problem.
"As I said before he had a bit of fatigue in his hamstring, it wasn't a major injury, and he's done really well, he's committed to his work. We hope he'll be training with us around the international break time and he's a massive, massive player."
READ MORE:
- Ryan Fraser nears Newcastle exit as Howe makes position clear on more signings
- Newcastle look to the future as highly-rated defender reacts to 'surreal' transfer
- Steve Bruce's Newcastle Moises Caicedo claim, Joelinton admission & league prediction
Javier Manquillo is now back in training after his injury, but Howe hasn't ruled out an exit for the full-back ahead of next week's deadline.
Howe has stressed the importance of squad depth and wants to keep the Spaniard at St James' Park, but game-time looks set to be hard to come by for Manquillo.
"Possibly, that would depend on what he wants," said Howe, quizzed on a potential exit for Manquillo.
"For me I'm trying to build the squad as deep as we can for the season ahead. At the moment it seems very calm but we're going to have games coming as soon as this break comes, after that we have an intense period of games. We need the depth. I'd like him to stay but it's in his hands."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here