Newcastle United midfielder returns to full training ahead of weekend fixture

Newcastle United midfielder Lucas De Bolle could make his debut for Hamilton Academical this weekend.

The under-23s regular joined the Scottish Championship club on a season-long loan deal on deadline day but he has been unable to play.

De Bolle suffered a concussion whilst featuring for the Magpies’ second string last month and has only just recovered.

And with the 19-year-old set to get three days of training under his belt, there’s a chance he could make his first Hamilton bow against Queen’s Park on Saturday.

Lucas De Bolle in line for Hamilton debut

“Lucas will join us this morning for the first time,” Accies boss John Rankin said.

“His return to play protocol allows him to come in. His vision is clear so he is able to join us this morning for his first training session.

“We know he’s not going to be sharper, he’s not trained for the last three weeks, but that’s a boost having one back in training.

“Out of seven we’ll have Miko (Miko Virtanen) joining in without the ball, and Lucas joining in the session.”

De Bolle was in line to make his debut versus Inverness Caledonian Thistle last week before suffering a minor setback.

A minor setback

Rankin explained: “Lucas had a setback from his concussion. The way it is, Newcastle have put him back 24 hours in the stage of his protocol.

“He was on a bike on Monday and we just need to go through the stages with him and hope that he recovers, and hopefully doesn’t get any dizzy spells between now and the weekend.

“He saw the opticians and they are clear it is nothing to do with his eye, so that is the good thing. He’s just having a recurrence of blurred vision so hopefully he can overcome that in the next couple of days.

“He was playing in a game for Newcastle and got knocked out a few weeks ago.

“Since then he has not trained but when you see Lucas playing and his energy levels, you will see that won’t affect him.

“We need to be patient, especially with a concussion. It’s not a tick-box exercise. He’s got to go through rigorous tests to make sure he can play at the level required.

“But I’m sure he’s got his eye on the international squad at the end of the month.”

De Bolle, who was born in Edinburgh, made his non-competitive debut for Newcastle during the 2-1 pre-season friendly win over Athletic Bilbao in July.