Sandro Tonali blow ahead of Newcastle United's Premier League clash vs Manchester City

The Magpies were scheduled to the face the League Two side on Tuesday night, however the fixture was cancelled less than 36 hours before kick-off with flooding in the local area creating a sinkhole in one of the corners of the Plough Lane pitch. The tie will now take place at St James’ Park on Tuesday, October 1.

It gives Newcastle extra time to preparation for the visit of Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday. While that will no doubt come as welcome news for Howe as he looks to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat at Fulham, it will indeed come as a blow to some players hoping to win a place in the starting XI.

Howe was set to rotate his line-up for the trip to South London. The likes of Emil Krafth, Sean Longstaff, Sandro Tonali, Miguel Almiron and Will Osula were in line to start with Tonali, of course, being the main one.

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The midfielder’s last start for the Magpies was in the previous round against Nottingham Forest, which fell just a day after his 10-month ban for breaching betting regulations officially expired. Since then, he has had to make do with substitute appearances against Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham.

Newcastle supporters had bought into the idea of Tonali needing to be eased back into action, however that was blown out of the window when the 24-year-old linked up with Italy during the recent international break and played back-to-back full matches against France and Israel. Not only did he play but he impressed too with his deft touch to set up Federico Dimarco’s goal in Paris seen by all on Tyneside.

Tonali was named on the bench against Wolves but was brought on at half-time as he, Harvey Barnes and Joe Willock helped United come from 1-0 down to win 2-1. The latter two were rewarded with a start at Fulham at the weekend while Tonali was surprisingly overlooked until his introduction in the 75th minute.

“There is no doubting Sandro's quality but as I've said I've got to introduce him at the right time for everyone,” Howe explained. “I'm Sandro's biggest supporter as well but I can only judge what I see.

“Sandro came on the pitch today and I don't think we were particularly good in that phase of the game. I wanted us to chase the game better towards the end but every player has the opportunity when they're on the pitch to make a difference.”

Howe had been ready to unleash Tonali versus Wimbledon and the player too was keen to showcase his talents ahead of the Man City clash. However, perhaps the only way the Italian can force his way into the XI now is by his training performances.