Eddie Howe reveals the truth behind Yoane Wissa's fitness battle at Newcastle United
It’s now been six weeks since Yoane Wissa made his debut for Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe admits that Yoane Wissa is only able to build his fitness slowly due to the sheer volume of matches.
Wissa joined Newcastle United from Brentford for £55million on September 1 but had to wait three months before making his debut after sustaining a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo.
The 29-year-old’s first appearance came as a substitute in the 2-1 win over Burnley on December 6. Since then, Wissa has made 11 appearances - five of which have come as starts - and scored twice.
Eddie Howe provides fitness update on Yoane Wissa
Howe said previously that Wissa would effectively need a six-week pre-season to get up to speed. It has now been six weeks since the striker made his debut.
When asked where Wissa is in terms of his fitness levels, Howe told NewcastleWorld: “I think ideally you have a six-week pre-season but I think the last six weeks has been anything but for him. There's been a lot of games and then rest and then game and then rest and that's a very stop-start for any player in this situation.
“You're not necessarily building fitness, you're maintaining fitness in this moment and there's no way for me that you can gain fitness really because the training is what gives you that.
“The games are the part obviously where you show your fitness, so I think there's a lot more to come from Yoane, I think we will see him in a much better physical condition than he is now.
“That's not to say that he's not fit, he is fit and you can see that he's had some really good games for us but I think he's probably gone through that really high emotional state when he's first come back and then you always have a dip as a player, then that's the real hard period before you then feel even fitter and better as you go forward.
“There are a couple of other players in very similar positions to him. There's no substitute for a good pre-season for any footballer but I think Yoane is handling it really well, he's an important player.
“I think we've already seen a player that always gets big chances in games, which is a great thing. He's got that great ability to put himself in goal-scoring positions and over time we back him to score.”