Isak missed the league defeat at Liverpool last month because of a groin injury, and has not played the full 90 minutes of any of the Magpies’ subsequent five matches as the club have continued to carefully manage his workload.
The Swede has taken part in a full series of training sessions this week though, and is set to remain in the starting line-up for Sunday’s home game with Manchester United.
Newcastle are also in action next weekend, when they host Crystal Palace, but Jason Tindall insists Eddie Howe’s selection for the Manchester United game will not be influenced by the fact that his side are embarking on a run of three games in just six days.
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“He’s (Isak) trained the last couple of days,” said Tindall, who was standing in for Howe at this morning’s pre-match press conference as the head coach is currently bed-ridden because of a bad illness. “He’s trained, and he feels fine.
“It’s something that we’ll assess day by day, but we’re expecting him to hopefully be available for the weekend. Beyond that, we’re not really looking ahead of Man United.
“Our main focus is the Man United game and making sure we deliver our best performance. What happens after that is the time when we’ll reflect and assess each individual player. We’ll make a call after that game going into the Crystal Palace game.”
While Gordon was available after completing a three-match suspension when Newcastle travelled to Leicester City on Monday night, he was not part of the squad at the King Power Stadium because he was still feeling the after-effects of the injury he sustained while on international duty with England last month.
The winger was involved in a heavy collision at Wembley, and while he has stepped up his training programme this week, his involvement in Sunday’s game with Manchester United remains in the balance.
“He’s (Gordon) had a decent week with the physios,” said Tindall. “He was back on the grass for a pitch session yesterday. We’ll assess him again today to see how he’s responded to that session, then we’ll have to make a late call over the weekend to see how he is for Sunday.”
Tindall has been in charge of training for the last two days, with Howe having been laid low by a serious illness issue.
The problem has not spread to the rest of camp, with Newcastle’s players having reported a clean bill of health, and Tindall is confident Howe will be in the St James’ Park dugout on Sunday.
For now, though, the pair are in regular dialogue via phone calls and video messages, with the strength of their 16-year coaching relationship meaning they instinctively tend to know what the other would want anyway.
“He’s (Howe) been really poorly in the last couple of days,” said Tindall, who also worked alongside Howe in his previous role at Bournemouth. “He’s been bed-ridden.
“We’ve been in daily contact. We’ve been speaking three or four times a day, so it’s not affected any of the preparations up until now. We’ve still got a couple of days, and I’m sure he’ll be okay for the weekend.
“I’ve been leading training while he’s been absent, with the other members of staff, but as I say, I think the manager should be back available for the weekend.
“It’s not very often that he’s not able to come to work. When the manager’s not there, it’s a bit different, but it’s only been a couple of days and we’ve got such a great bunch of lads with a fantastic attitude. There are some great characters in there, and they know the expectations. They know the demands and what they need to deliver to make sure they’re fully prepared for the weekend.”
