EDDIE HOWE admits Newcastle United have missed Elliot Anderson’s ‘creativity and versatility’ in the last four months.

Anderson ended his lengthy injury absence when he came off the bench to score a crucial spot-kick in Newcastle’s penalty shoot-out win over Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.

The midfielder suffered a stress fracture in his back in the autumn, and was forced to have a lengthy period of rest before resuming training.

He should be in the squad for this afternoon’s home game with Wolves, with Howe admitting the 21-year-old has been badly missed during his spell on the sidelines.

Howe said: “He’s been a huge miss for us because of his versatility. You could see that to have his ability to play wide, play central, be creative and a goalscorer, we’ve missed that.

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“When you miss him and Joelinton at the same time, a lot of the versatility of the squad goes and your ability to chop and change things. It’s great to have him back.”

While Anderson was deemed fit enough to return during extra-time on Tuesday, the length of his absence means he will be eased back into things over the course of the next few weeks.

Howe said: “It’s very similar to Joe Willock, really. He’s technically fit, but he’s maybe not in the condition that we need him to be, to play regularly. We’re going to have to nurse him back and look after him because we want him to stay fit.

“It certainly wasn’t a quick recovery, from our side or from Elliot’s. He’s been hugely frustrated that he hasn’t been able to kick on and return to training sooner.

“I think it was the type of injury where we had to be very, very patient, which is hugely frustrating when you can’t run. He felt okay, but with that type of injury, he had to be very careful.

“We had to be careful with him, but then when he started his rehab and started getting back on the grass, he looked really good. He’s felt fine, so the last stage of his injury has been pretty quick.”

The fact that Howe was willing to send Anderson on to take a penalty at Ewood Park underlines the faith he has in both the midfielder’s ability and temperament.

Anderson held his nerve to score Newcastle’s fourth penalty in the shoot-out, with his successful conversion helping to secure a 4-3 success.

Howe said: “We were very keen to get him on the pitch with penalties in mind. We see him every day practising his penalties, and he executes them very well.

“But still, he had to come in relatively cold because he was only on for five minutes, and he had to have the composure to execute it, for such a young player. He did just that.”