Eddie Howe shared the latest on Yoane Wissa and Sven Botman after both players got back to training ahead of Newcastle’s Champions League clash with Qarabag.

The Magpies are back at St James’ Park for an 8 pm kick-off, looking to book their spot in the last 16. They made things easy for themselves with that huge 6-1 win in Baku last week; really, it’d take a total collapse for them not to go through now. No team in Champions League history has ever come back from five goals down after the first leg, so Newcastle look set, even with Howe planning a few changes.

Whoever wins will meet either Barcelona or Chelsea in the next round. We’ll find out the draw on Friday.

Malick Thiaw is suspended, and several others, Bruno Guimarães, Lewis Miley, Tino Livramento, Fabian Schär, and Emil Krafth, are still out injured. Wissa and Botman have each sat out the last three games, dealing with minor knocks, but both were back in training on Monday.

After Newcastle’s 2-1 loss at Manchester City, Howe explained, “We thought Botman would be ready. He just didn’t feel completely right, so we decided not to risk it. Hopefully he’s back on Tuesday, but we’re not totally sure yet.”

About Wissa, Howe added, “I don’t think he’ll be out for long; maybe he even makes the Qarabag game. He picked up a nasty knock in training, but I think he’ll be fine.”

On Monday afternoon, Howe gave another update: “We hope they’ll both be involved. We’ll see how they feel in the morning, but fingers crossed.”

Meanwhile, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali weren’t seen out on the grass during training, but Howe quickly shot down any panic: “We just kept a few players inside today. No problems. Four or five guys just being careful.”

With such a big lead, this match is the perfect chance for Howe to rotate his squad. Alex Murphy, Leo Shahar, Sean Neave, and John Ruddy are the only fit players who haven’t started for Newcastle yet. William Osula has made some Champions League appearances off the bench but hasn’t started either.

Is it time for some fresh faces? Howe played it cool when asked, “Maybe. We’ll look at the squad and pick a strong team that wants to win. That’s the main thing.”

He went on, “We want to keep a good rhythm, and it’s a tricky balance resting players, making sure everyone’s fresh, but also making sure people don’t lose that match sharpness or the good feeling we’ve got going. I’ll try to make the right calls with all that in mind.”

Manchester City edged out Newcastle United 2-1 at the Etihad on Saturday night, and honestly, Eddie Howe looked frustrated after the final whistle. He felt his team deserved a bit more.

City took control in the first half, with Nico O’Reilly grabbing both their goals, one on each side of Lewis Hall’s deflected strike for Newcastle. After that, City just managed the game, saw out the second half, and picked up their 17th home win in a row against the Magpies in the Premier League.

This loss snapped Newcastle’s streak of three away wins, and they’re still sitting 10th in the table with 11 matches to go.

After the match, Howe was quick to praise his players’ effort. “The lads gave everything physically today,” he said. “It’s been a really tough run of fixtures for us, not just this week. Every time we step on the pitch, I want them to give absolutely everything to win. I can’t fault that today everyone left it all out there. I thought we played with a clear plan and a good style. We executed most of it well, apart from a couple of moments. The goals we conceded – those were down to individual mistakes; we just didn’t defend well enough.”

He admitted chasing a game at the Etihad is never easy. “It’s tough to do here, but I’m pleased with the effort,” he said.

But the frustration wasn’t just about the result. Newcastle had a goal chalked off for offside. Dan Burn got shoved by Ruben Dias into an offside position, but the flag still went up. And Burn took a nasty challenge from Bernardo Silva, who was already on a yellow, but somehow avoided another booking.

“I only saw the offside still frame, so I missed the push,” Howe said. “I don’t think we got the right end of the decisions today. I’m not someone who likes to blame officials all the time, but I do think things didn’t go our way again.”

Asked if he’d look for answers about the disallowed goal, Howe was honest: “I don’t know the rule there. I haven’t seen the push; if that’s what happened, I’ll look into it.”

In the end, City took the points and closed the gap on Arsenal to just two. Newcastle are left wondering what might have been.