EDDIE Howe and Alexander Isak are in agreement on the Newcastle United importance of Joe Willock after the midfielder's return to action in Japan.

Willock was limited to just nine Premier League appearances for the Magpies last season because of hamstring and achilles injuries, but the former Arsenal midfielder now hopes to have put those issues behind him.

He's been training well this summer and made his long-awaited return with 45 minutes in Wednesday's 4-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan - to the delight of Howe and star striker Isak.

"I'm very pleased for him," said Isak, a close friend of Willock off the pitch.

"He's been struggling and working very hard to get back, so I was happy to have him back out there. Hopefully he can stay fit because he'll be so important for the team,

"He brings a lot. He has qualities that are very different to the rest of the squad, the way he can carry the ball up the pitch, he has the quality to combine and create chances. He's very important and hopefully we can have him for the whole season."

Willock, alongside the returning Sean Longstaff, both played the first half on Wednesday and will likely get more minutes under their belt when the Magpies face Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday (11am, UK time).

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"That was always the plan, 45 minutes for both," said Howe.

"It was massive for Joe and massive for us to see Joe. We've missed him so much and you could see flashes of his best.

"That will be a big 45 mins for him psychologically. Sean is another key player, that will do him the world of good."

Bruno Guimaraes, Fabian Schar and Lloyd Kelly missed Wednesday's game, as did Martin Dubravka and Sandro Tonali, who is unable to feature in the friendlies in Japan due to his ban. Dubravka is likely to leave Newcastle this summer on the back of the arrival of Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy. The Magpies also have Mark Gillespie on their books.

Bruno and Schar are playing catch-up after their extended summer break, while Kelly, Howe admitted last week, is still getting to grips with the head coach's training demands. But the boss hinted that those players could feature in Saturday's game.

He said: "Saturday is going to be a good game, we should have more players involved, so a bigger squad to select from.

"Maybe it's an opportunity to manage minutes better than we could (on Wednesday). You could see a few players really fatigued at the end, we ended up with 10 men because of that. With a few players returning, our squad will be in a better place."

Newcastle's squad will be further strengthened next week with Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier due to report back after their extended break.

Both have been at the centre of transfer speculation this summer, with Trippier heavily linked with a move to Saudi and fresh reports this week claiming Liverpool are still interested in ex-Everton forward Gordon.