Miley has suffered a frustrating season, which started with him on the sidelines after suffering a broken metatarsal in pre-season and has continued with him struggling to force his way into Eddie Howe’s first team.
The 18-year-old has made just one Premier League start this season, with Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton having locked down the starting spots in Howe’s first-choice midfield.
Miley’s future has been the subject of considerable speculation in the last few weeks, with his status as an academy product, and consequent potential for a large PSR profit, leading to speculation that he could be sold this summer.
Howe is adamant that will not be the case, with the Magpies boss continuing to regard the teenager as a key part of his side’s long-term development.
“Lewis is absolutely pivotal to our future here,” said Howe, who will be back in the dugout when Newcastle host Ipswich Town tomorrow after missing the last three matches while receiving treatment for pneumonia.
“From my perspective, he’s going absolutely nowhere. We want to build the team with him in it, for many, many years, that’s my thought process.”
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Miley is likely to be back on the bench when Ipswich visit St James’ Park tomorrow, with Howe also able to call on the services of Fabian Schar.
Schar was feeling tightness in his hamstrings when he went off in the closing stages of last weekend’s defeat at Aston Villa, but the Swiss centre-half has been able to take part in full training this week and is set to resume his central-defensive partnership with Dan Burn tomorrow.
Sven Botman has also been back in training this week, but the Dutchman will be eased back into action after suffering a knee injury shortly after returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines following knee-ligament surgery last spring.
“Sven’s trained well this week, and it’s been great to see him back on the grass,” said Howe. “We’re really pleased with how he looked, but it’s still at the very early stages for him. He’s back training with the group though, and that’s a big step. Fabian, we hope will be okay (for the Ipswich game).”
