Eddie Howe allays Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon injury fears as he provides double Newcastle boost | OneFootball

Eddie Howe is hopeful defender Sven Botman and striker Yoane Wissa could return to the Newcastle squad for Tuesday night's Champions League clash with Qarabag after recovering from injury.

Botman has missed the last three games with a back problem while summer recruit Wissa, whose first season at Newcastle has been maligned by injury, has been absent for four matches with a dead leg.

Both trained with a trimmed-down squad at the club's Benton base on Monday morning ahead of the play-off second leg against the champions of Azerbaijan on Tuesday evening, a tie they are in complete control of after winning 6-1 in Baku.

When asked if the pair could be involved, Howe said: "We hope they'll be involved. We'll see how they are when they wake up tomorrow but fingers crossed they will be."

There was concern to be taken from Monday’s open training session, with integral midfielder Sandro Tonali and in-form forward Anthony Gordon - who hit four before half-time against Qarabag - absent from the group put through their paces by Howe.

There was speculation that the duo were simply rested, with Newcastle’s gruelling schedule seeing them play 10 games across four different competitions in the last month, including the 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan.

And Howe was quick to assure that the pair weren’t injured and were in fact just training indoors, along with a few others.

“There were a few players that we just kept inside today, no real issue, four or five players I think we just wanted to look after,” he said.

Anthony Gordon celebrates his goal against Qarabag with Sandro Tonali (AFP via Getty Images)

Last Wednesday’s thrashing left Howe's men with one foot firmly in the last 16 and with the option of resting some of his weary players, firm in the knowledge that it would take a catastrophic turn of events to rob them of a last-16 showdown with either Barcelona or Chelsea.

The Magpies manager nevertheless insists he must be careful with his selection to make sure the team doesn’t take an unnecessary hit in confidence, insisting the main objective is still to win the game.

"We'll look at the squad and try to pick a strong team,” he added. “We want to win the game, that's the first target.

“In some senses we want to keep a good rhythm with the players. It's a delicate balance between rotating the squad and making sure everyone's fresh and also making sure players don't lose rhythm and we don't lose the good feeling we've had."