Journalist Pete O’Rourke is excited by the ‘welcome’ boost Callum Wilson will bring for Eddie Howe when he returns from injury.
The lowdown
Wilson hasn’t featured for The Magpies since the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on 27 December.
The striker has missed their last ten Premier League matches since with a calf injury, but is now edging closer to a return.
The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards reported last week that the Englishman has an ‘outside chance’ of returning against Wolves on Friday 8 April if he comes through training unscathed.
The latest
O’Rourke is excited to hear of Wilson’s impending return, picking out the home match against Leicester on the 17th.
“Get him back in by mid April,” he told The Transfer Tavern. “I think he’s going to be another welcome addition to Eddie Howe’s plans for the rest of the season.”
The verdict
Even though he’s only played 15 games this season, Wilson is still Newcastle’s top scorer with six goals, and the team deserve credit for lifting themselves out of relegation trouble even without the 30-year-old’s firepower.
Indeed, when Wilson picked up his injury, Howe’s side were 19th on 11 points, but they’ve picked up 20 points since to climb to 14th, nine points clear of the drop zone.
That said, January signing Chris Wood has struggled to make his mark as the team’s no. 9, playing all 900 minutes in Wilson’s absence, managing only one goal.
He could find himself relegated to the substitutes’ bench in a couple of weeks’ time, then, unless Howe hatches a plan to play two up front.
In other news, read this worrying ‘isolation’ update on a Newcastle star.