There is not much good news for Newcastle United on the injury front as they prepare to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with no players expected to return in France.
Dan Burn, Callum Wilson, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson, Sven Botman, Harvey Barnes, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock, Javier Manquillo and Matt Targett are all sidelined and remain so ahead of the trip to Paris.
Manager Eddie Howe told a pre-match press conference on Monday: ‘Not too much change [on the injury front]. I think we’re pretty much as we were, but with a few absentees of lads who can’t play in the Champions League.’
The likes of Matt Ritchie and Mark Gillespie have been in matchday squads in the Premier League of late but are not in the Champions League squad so cannot compete in Europe.
Despite the nightmare injury list, Newcastle picked up an impressive 4-1 win over Chelsea at the weekend and Howe was thrilled with how his players came through the match.
‘The mood of the group is very good especially after the result at the weekend, that was a pivotal moment for us,’ said Howe.
‘It’s very easy to feel sorry for ourselves or to focus on the players that aren’t with us. The lads did incredibly well to blank that out and just perform, and perform to a very high level to win against a very good Chelsea team.’
The Newcastle players who are fit will be facing the superstars of PSG, but will not be intimidated after beating them 4-1 at St James’ Park.
Howe knows that the likes of Kylian Mbappe will bring a huge challenge, but is confident that the resilience of his players will be a match for them.
‘It’s difficult to talk about their players,’ he said. ‘They have quality everywhere. They’ve been scoring goals for fun.
‘Our structure and resilience has been good, bar the Bournemouth game. We’re going to need to be as good as we know we can be.’
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