EDDIE HOWE has admitted he will have to assess Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon’s wellbeing in training today before confirming their availability for tomorrow’s home game with Arsenal.
Isak was unable to complete Wednesday’s Carabao Cup victory over Chelsea, hobbling off in the second half after suffering a knock to his leg. The problem is not serious, but the Swede was sidelined last month with a toe injury and tomorrow’s game will be his third outing in the space of six days, assuming he is selected.
Gordon was also substituted during Wednesday’s League Cup win, having been unavailable for last weekend’s league defeat to Chelsea because of a groin issue.
“I think they (Gordon and Isak) both feel okay, but it’s one of those where we’ll have to assess how they feel today,” said Howe, whose side start the weekend in the bottom half of the Premier League table. “Sometimes, after 48 hours you can feel different to 24 hours.
“It’s not necessarily a straight line with how the body feels. They both had niggling injuries – Alex had his toe, Anthony’s had a groin – so we’ll make a decision today.
“We’ve got a couple of knocks coming out of Wednesday night. They’re just general fatigue really, game fatigue. It was a good, physical game against Chelsea – both games, on the Sunday and the Wednesday, were intense matches.
“It’s just normal fatigue you get 24 or 48 hours after a game, but we need to make sure that whoever enters the pitch against Arsenal is in their best condition.”
Callum Wilson will definitely not feature against the Gunners, and having scaled back his training routine after complaining of ongoing pain in his hamstrings, the striker is also set to sit out the following weekend’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
“He’s (Wilson) doing okay,” said Howe. “He’s building his load again. There was no real injury, but it was just a feeling in his body that he couldn’t push as hard as he wanted to push or needed to push to play at this level.
“You have to be perfect, really, in how you feel. We’ll make a decision. He’s definitely out for this game, and we’ll make a decision based on how he feels for Nottingham Forest. But, with the two-week gap (in the forthcoming international break), it probably makes sense to leave it.”
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