Newcastle United major injury boost v Crystal Palace confirmed by £40m star on social media

Newcastle United have been handed a major injury boost ahead of this afternoon’s Premier League encounter against Crystal Palace at St James’ Park (kick-off 3pm).

Brazilian midfielder Joelinton had missed the previous two games versus Paris Saint-Germain and West Ham United because of the hamstring injury he sustained less than five minutes after coming on as a substitute at home to Burnley.

Speaking at Friday’s press conference, head coach Eddie Howe said admitted he was “confident” Joelinton would be involved for the visit of Palace. And his return has now been confirmed by the 27-year-old himself after he uploaded a personalised matchday graphic to his Instagram story this morning.

Howe said: “He’s trained well. He’s done a lot of work so I’m confident, as I sit here now, he’s going to be OK and return to the form we know he can produce. He’s a huge player for us. We did have a few injuries, not everything’s cleared up and we’re not in perfect order but we’re certainly looking a little bit better.”

Joelinton has endured a frustrating start to the 2023-24 season because of injury. He picked up a knee issue in the third game against Liverpool and visibly struggled the week after away to Brighton and Hove Albion.

He sat out of matches against Brentford and Sheffield United in order to recover before putting in a top performance to help United dump Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup. However, three days later versus Burnley, an injury once against forced Joelinton to have a spell on the sidelines.