Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon has avoided a serious knee injury and could be fit for tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City.
Gordon limped out of Monday’s 3-2 defeat at Chelsea in apparent pain, prompting concern from Newcastle coach Eddie Howe that he could be set for a spell on the sidelines.
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However, Gordon, who was yesterday handed a maiden call-up to the England squad for the forthcoming double-header against Brazil and Belgium, has trained and may be in contention for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
Howe said: “It was a strange one because when you watch it back you fear it’s a serious injury.
“He partly trained yesterday. We didn’t do a great deal due to the schedule this week but he joined in and it’s great news for us.”
Howe was delighted Gordon’s form had also been recognised by England boss Gareth Southgate, adding: “Delighted for him. I know it’s been a big aim for him. He’s been outstanding this year and has grown week on week. I’m delighted that’s been recognised.”
Tomorrow’s trip to City represented arguably the worst draw Newcastle could have received but Howe says his team will take a positive approach.
He said: “We’ll have a right go. We’ll attack it and we’ll try to progress into the next round. We can do it. I’ve got no doubt about that. Of course we have to get our game plan right and execute it to the highest level but we go there in a positive mood.”
City are in great form and Howe is a big admirer of his City counterpart Pep Guardiola.
“I’ve watched all their recent games which is always an interesting thing,” he said.
“They’re an incredible football team. For me, they’ve got the best manager there has, arguably, ever been. But look at our games against them this year and how close they’ve been.
“We haven’t been too far away [in recent matches vs City] and in those games we didn’t get the luck we needed.”
