Newcastle United star refuses to confirm return v Crystal Palace after £60m injury blow

Callum Wilson and Matt Targett of Newcastle United applaud fans following the Premier League match between West Ham United and Newcastle United at London Stadium on October 08, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson gave nothing away when asked about his potential involvement against Crystal Palace this afternoon.

The Magpies’ No.9 has been sidelined with a hamstring issue in recent weeks forcing him to miss wins over Manchester City, Burnley and Paris Saint-Germain.

Wilson made his return against West Ham United last time out but Eddie Howe still cast doubt over his fitness after revealing he only brought the 31-year-old in an emergency after Alexander Isak picked up a groin problem.

As a result, Isak was forced to withdraw from the Sweden squad and Howe claimed on Friday that the club’s record signing still hadn’t trained - making him a major doubt for today’s clash.

That puts Wilson in pole position to lead Newcastle’s attack but when asked on the BBC Footballers’ Football Podcast if he was fit, the England international replied: “I’m not answering that question. I don’t want Palace knowing any details about me!”

Despite Wilson’s remaining tight lipped, he is expected to feature versus Palace after making the trip to Dubai during the two-week international break.

He said said: “I went out to Dubai, had a few days off from the club and no international break so I decided to go and get some warm-weather training in.

“I’d just got back fit before we played against [West Ham] but I hadn’t actually trained so, for me, it was a really important period of time to get some training work into me and there’s no better place than in some heat you know!”