Eddie Howe's team news update: Joelinton returns for Qarabag qualifier | OneFootball

The midfielder hasn't featured since he came off in the Premier League defeat to Aston Villa almost a month ago, but travelled with the team to Azerbaijan.

His compatriot Bruno Guimarães remains sidelined, but Eddie Howe had better news on Lewis Miley when he spoke to the media at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium ahead of the match.

Here are some of the main talking points from the United head coach's pre-match media briefing on Tuesday evening:

On team news ahead of the match...

"Joelinton's back in the squad so that's a great boost for us. He's such an important player, such a big presence within our squad, such a real leader.

"He trained yesterday and trained well, and felt really good. No one else from the missing list, I think, has travelled from the last game so we're missing quite a few players, quite a few real quality players as well. They're big misses for us, but we come in here good spirits from our last two games.

"We will play our strongest team in the sense that we will try and win the game. There'll be no thinking of the schedule ahead; this game, in isolation, is hugely important."

On Lewis Miley, who remains sidelined...

"Lewy's made good progress in the last few days. We're quite happy with with his progress. He's had a number of scans; it came from a knock, which seems quite strange, but just a really bad dead leg gave some muscle disruption. So as soon as that muscle is healed, which we think it is, now we can push him on."

On Bruno Guimarães, who will miss the next few weeks...

"We've spoken with, and he spoke with our medical team, and we've been in consultation with the Brazilian national team. He's going this week with the Brazilian national team, and then comes back to us for the last four weeks.

"I think it's a good mix for Bruno; initial stages of not doing too much, he gets a sort of mental refresh while doing some good work, and then comes back to finish off his final part."

On Emil Krafth, who has been withdrawn from United's Champions League squad and replaced by John Ruddy...

"Emil's had an operation on his knee so I think in all likelihood, it looks like the season is over, which is a real blow for us.

"He first had the problem on international duty. We hoped that he could come back and be okay, but it became apparent in training recently that he wasn't going to get to the level needed, and there needed to be a surgical intervention."

On the long flight to Azerbaijan...

"We try and take that in our stride. The flight was actually very good, smooth - sometimes that's not the case, and hasn't been the case this year for us. But today was good. We'll train in a second, hopefully the lads will get the plane journey out their legs, and we'll be fine tomorrow."

On Qarabag...

"I watched a lot of Qarabag in the build-up to this game and I watched both of (their games against Liverpool and Chelsea). The Liverpool scoreline was not reflective of the game at all - they made a really good, bright start to that game, had a number of chances, were really threatening with the ball, showed that high technical level. They've got some dangerous players.

"You can look at the scoreline and make one assumption, and then look at the game and get another, different, impression. The Chelsea game I thought was a really hard-fought game between two good teams, but it was a really good one for us to watch to see the level of team we're going to be up against, and are certainly getting across to the players in the next two days that there's no complacancy. We know this will be a tough test for us."

On Qarabag's long-serving manager, Gurban Gurbanov...

"Any manager that's had that length of time at one club deserves huge respect, because it is very, very difficult to continually motivate your team, to find a way to communicate, inspire your team, and also the continued success they've had.

"To see them doing what they're doing now in the hardest club competition in the world is incredible, so full credit to him and his staff, but also the way that they've done it and the way that they play. I think their style is really good to watch, almost playing with a traditional nine and ten, which is very difficult to play.

"I think both players have excelled in those positions for them. So full credit to the manager - 17 years and still going strong is a real mark of respect."

On looking to reach the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time...

"Of course, it means everything to us. The history of the club, this is a new opportunity for us - to get to the last 16 of this competition would be an incredible achievement, and we're trying to embrace it in that way.

"We're trying to look at the excitement and the possibility, rather than feel too much of the pressure of the occasion. We want to turn these moments and these games into history, opportunities, into moments that people talk about for a long, long time.

"There's a real excitement with this game and the travel and the number of supporters we're bringing. It's all set to be a great occasion. Of course, we have to do our bit, we have to bring our A-game, and we have to approach the game in the right way, in terms of our attitude. I know we will."