CALLUM WILSON will miss the next three matches, with the Newcastle United striker having suffered another setback in his recovery from injury.

Wilson has been sidelined since the start of pre-season because of a combination of hamstring and back problems.

The 32-year-old stepped up his training schedule during the recent international break, but has not felt comfortable with his increased workload.

As a result, Newcastle’s medical staff have scaled back Wilson’s training programme, and the forward will not be involved in Sunday’s Premier League game with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Wilson will also not be considered for next week’s Carabao Cup game with Chelsea or the following weekend’s home game with Arsenal.

“We’re going to lose Callum for the next three games, definitely,” said Howe. “He’s just had some tightness in his body, he hasn’t felt like he could kick on to that last part that he needed.

“He had trained with us, and had looked really good, but with Callum, we’re hyper-sensitive and he’s hyper-sensitive to any reaction to the work. He’s got no injury as such, it’s just he’s not ready to come back yet.”

READ MORE:

Wilson’s continued absence piles further pressure on Alexander Isak, whose solitary goal so far this season came back at the start of September in the win over Tottenham.

Isak missed two games recently because of his own injury issues, and while he might have played the full 90 minutes against Brighton last weekend, he has not been operating at the peak of his powers. As a result, he has done some extra physical sessions at Newcastle’s Darsley Park training complex this week.

“Alex is a player who’s done a lot of work this week to get his fitness levels up to 100 per cent,” said Howe. “I left him on the pitch (against Brighton) because he’s one of the most likely players to score, even if he was tired towards the end. He’s trained well this week.

“He knows the burden of being the number nine. At Newcastle, I think you do carry an extra weight with that. But I think he’s done that brilliantly since he’s been here.

“We need to support him and give him chances. It was great to see him having seven shots last week, that was a good return and I back him that if he’s having seven shots every week, he’s going to score a lot of goals for us.”