EDDIE Howe has revealed Alexander Isak has been ill in the last couple of days, which is why Newcastle's head coach opted to substitute the striker in the second half of the draw with Brighton.

Eyebrows were raised inside St James' Park at the midway stage of the second half when, with the Magpies chasing what would have been a crucial winner, Howe took his star striker off.

With Callum Wilson missing, Anthony Gordon moved up-front for the final stages of the game, and although the club's Player of the Year had the ball in the net late on, it was ruled out for offside and Newcastle had to settle for a point.

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Afterwards, Howe explained his Isak substitution and revealed he hopes both the Swedish striker and Wilson are 100 per cent for Wednesday's crunch trip to Old Trafford.

He said: “Alex wasn't feeling very well yesterday and so I took the decision to just look after him with the three-game week in mind. I think you could see that Alex wasn't at full tilt today, so that was the reason for that.

“And with Callum, Callum was also a little bit of illness and just feeling not great in his body, so hopefully we'll have him back."

Sean Longstaff cancelled out Joel Veltman's opener to earn a point for Newcastle, who will head for Old Trafford knowing two wins will guarantee a sixth place finish and European football next term. Fifth place now looks out of reach, with Tottenham just needing a single point from their last two games after beating Burnley on Saturday.