Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is undergoing tests in hospital after falling ill on Friday night. The 47-year-old is believed to be conscious and talking with family, but he is set to miss Manchester United‘s visit to the north-east on Sunday afternoon.
The Magpies have released a statement, which reads: “Eddie Howe will miss tomorrow’s game against Manchester United due to illness. The Magpies’ head coach was admitted to hospital late on Friday evening having felt unwell for a number of days. Everyone at Newcastle United extends their best wishes to Eddie for a speedy recovery, and further updates will follow in due course.”
Concerns were first raised about Howe when he pulled out of his media duties on Friday. Assistant manager Jason Tindall took his place and said that he hoped his right-hand man would be back in time for this weekend’s important match.
“He’s been really poorly – bed-ridden,” said Tindall. “We’ve been in daily contact but it’s not affected any of the preparations. We’ve still got a few days and hopefully he’ll be back for the weekend.”
Howe took his usual spot on the touchline when Newcastle beat Leicester City 3-0 at the King Power Stadium on Monday, and he was showing no obvious signs of illness. The former Bournemouth boss led the Magpies to Carabao Cup glory last month, sparking jubilation in the city as they celebrated their first trophy in 70 years.
With Champions League places still up for grabs, Howe’s work for the season is not yet done. A strong showing from English sides in Europe has guaranteed that even fifth place will be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Newcastle currently sit seventh in the table, but they are only one point behind fifth-place Aston Villa, two points behind fourth-place Manchester City and four behind third-place Nottingham Forest in a tightly-bunched pack.
Howe’s chances of Champions League qualification are boosted by the fact that Newcastle have two games in hand on each of those teams. One of those will take place when United land at St. James’ Park on Sunday off the back of a painful Europa League quarter-final draw with Lyon.
A pair of costly blunders from Andre Onana has left the tie poised at 2-2 ahead of next week’s return leg. Ruben Amorim is set to be joined on the touchline by Tindall as Newcastle and United vie for three points.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk