Newcastle injury news: Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis Miley, Fabian Schar update from Eddie Howe before Crystal Palace clash

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has provided the latest update on the fitness of his squad ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The Magpies suffered a painful 2-1 home defeat to Tyne-Wear rivals Sunderland three weeks ago and had to cope without four first-team players through injury.

Star midfielder Bruno Guimaraes has missed the last 11 games across all competitions with a hamstring injury, which required treatment in his native Brazil.

Newcastle were initially hopeful that Guimaraes would make a welcome first-team comeback after the international break, but the 28-year-old suffered from mumps on his return from Brazil and will not be involved against Palace this weekend.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Howe said: “Bruno suffered, as probably the majority know, from mumps on his return from Brazil. That’s delayed his return, so he will not be involved in this game.

“I think there’s probably a doubt over the Bournemouth game as well for him – no injury concern, more just the illness stopped him doing some key work we needed him to do to be considered for these games. He may be (fit for) the game after, but it’s important he comes back when he’s ready.”

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Newcastle boss Howe issues Schar, Miley, Tonali injury update

Elsewhere, Howe has confirmed that defender Fabian Schar has an infection in his foot and requires a small surgical procedure, meaning he is likely to remain sidelined for another month.

The 34-year-old has not played for Newcastle since the beginning of January when he was stretchered off with an ankle injury in a 4-3 win over Leeds United.

“We’ve had mixed injury news, I’d say, during the break,” said Howe. “We certainly look stronger than we did going into the Sunderland game where we had a number of absentees.

“Fabian, unfortunately, suffered an infection in his foot, so he’s been in hospital having a very small operation to get that cleaned out. He won’t return for around a month, we think, so that’s bad news on him.”

Emil Krafth (knee) and Sven Botman (face) also remains out, but on a positive note, Howe has revealed that Lewis Miley could make his first appearance since January after recovering from a muscle issue in his thigh. Sandro Tonali is also fit after playing with an injury on international duty with Italy.

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“On everybody else, we’re pretty good,” Howe added. “Lewy (Miley)’s trained and trained well with us so that’s a big thing for us to see because we’ve missed him massively.

“Then of course you add Sandro who played during the international break anyway with his injury from the Sunderland game. Others are in a good place.”

Newcastle have benefitted from international break, says Howe

Howe is hoping to see his Newcastle players finish the season strongly, with seven Premier League games remaining to reduce the four-point gap between themselves in 12th and the European qualification spots.

“I think the break probably came at a good time for us, on reflection,” said the Magpies boss. “At the time I felt we wanted to play as soon as we could, but I think it gave the players a chance to detach. The majority went away internationally, so a different focus for them.

“For us that were here, there was a group of six players that we trained with and all the staff, we were very much focused on reflection and analysis and team performances, so we’ve gone into a very analytical mode to try and focus on the next seven games and try and get back to our very best form.

“Very quickly, our focus went to that. Criticism’s part of when you lose big games like that. You know that’s part of the deal and we’ve had to take that and are fully prepared to do so.”

Newcastle are looking to complete the league double over Crystal Palace for the first time since 2013-14, after winning the reverse fixture 2-0 at St James’ Park three months ago.