Newcastle United reveal Sandro Tonali doubt as four senior players ruled out v Benfica
Newcastle United issue Sandro Tonali update after midfielder misses training on Tuesday.
Newcastle United will make a late decision on Sandro Tonali for Tuesday’s Champions League clash at home to Benfica (kick-off 8pm).
The Magpies were back in training on Tuesday morning following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, with Tonali absent from the session.
Tonali picked up a knock during the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest before the international break but linked up with Italy as normal, playing back-to-back 90 minutes in World Cup qualifiers wins over Estonia and Israel.
_pages-to-jpg-0001.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
The 25-year-old started against Brighton at the weekend and played 70 minutes before being substituted for Jacob Ramsey.
Newcastle United issue official Sandro Tonali update
Ahead of the Benfica game, the TV cameras were invited into the Magpies’ Benton training ground this morning and there was no sign of Tonali.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference at St James’ Park, Eddie Howe revealed Tonali has been suffering from a bug and is “touch and go” for the game.
Howe said: “Bit of illness with Sandro, so he’ll be touch and go. We’ll give him every opportunity. He’s such an important player, we’ll use all the hours we can.”
If Tonali is to miss out, Lewis Miley and Jacob Ramsey will be in contention to come into the starting XI.
Howe added: “They have Champions League experience, but they're also very, very good players. I think we've got a really strong midfield this year. So if one player is missing, it's an opportunity for a very good player to come in and grab theirs.
“So yeah, I thought both players did well when they came in on Saturday.”
Newcastle United already without four senior players v Benfica
Newcastle remain without full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, as well as summer signing Yoane Wissa.
Livramento is sidelined until the end of November with a knee injury, while the visit of Benfica will come too soon for Hall, who is recovering from a hamstring problem.
And Wissa is still around a fortnight away from making his debut. The 29-year-old joined from Brentford for £55million on September 1 before suffering a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo just over a week later.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are prevented from naming club captain Jamaal Lascelles in their matchday squad versus Benfica after leaving the defender out of their 21-man Champions League ‘List A’ squad.
UEFA rules allow clubs to submit a ‘List A’ of up to 25 players - if they include four ‘club-trained’ players. But in this instance, the Magpies could only name a squad of 21 due to the lack of club-trained players.
A club-trained player is any player registered with their current club for at least three full seasons between the ages of 15 and 21, regardless of nationality.
With over 250 appearances for United, Lascelles is the most senior player to be left off the squad list, with training goalkeepers John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie and right-back Harrison Ashby the other players to be omitted.