Eddie Howe Newcastle United press conference on Anthony Gordon transfer and injuries

Live updates as Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe speaks ahead of Sunday's Premier League match with Nottingham Forest

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe spoke to the media today to preview the Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest - along with updates on his future, transfers and injuries.

The pressure was eased on the Magpies boss after last weekend's 3-1 home win over Brighton but it's never dull at St James' Park, and since then there has been further speculation about the future of some of his players, particularly Anthony Gordon.

Lewis Miley, meanwhile, has suffered a broken leg in training - there was an update on his injury and fitness news on the likes of Tino Livramento and Fabian Schar ahead of Sunday's trip to the City Ground. Here's what was said.

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Key Events

Can you shine any light on Bayern Munich links with Anthony Gordon?

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Howe on Gordon future

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Howe: Media blow up Woltemade disappointment

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Anthony Gordon latest

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Does Howe see Wissa and Woltemade at Newcastle next season?

"Yes, I do. It's difficult for me to give absolute certainty to that because the players themselves will have a big say in that as well, but my wish is that they are both here. I really think they've got outstanding qualities, I think they can make a difference. They're very different players, of course, I wouldn't compare them, but I think they can really help the team."

Howe on managing Wissa and Woltemade's futures

“It’s the same with any player. Communication is really important and I spend a lot of time and effort to communicate regularly with the players and try and tell them what I want. “Obviously I’m very vocal and involved on the training pitch to try and help a player acclimatise and know what’s requited of them on the pitch. I think that’s really important. I don’t believe in big silences and leaving the players alone too much. I want to be actively helping them. That’s always been my style and I’d love to think that won’t change.”

Howe on Anthony Elanga's first year since joining from Forest

"Obviously Ant had a really strong year last year for Nottingham Forest. A lot of goals, a lot of assists, a lot of goal contributions. We obviously came up against him a few times, and I thought he was always a really strong performer against us, always gave us problems in those games against them last year. He's come to us and I think he's had some really good games for us. Obviously, there's been some games in there where he's found a little bit more difficult, as every player would. I still believe the best is very much yet to come for Ant here. I think he's got... you don't need me to tell you, you watch the games as well as I do - he's got some outstanding qualities that we really value, and we really want in the team. But there'd be an element of frustration, I am sure, for him that he hasn't shown his consistent best throughout the season. But players take different times to settle, different times to get a full understanding of what we ask them to do. He's a player that looks like he's benefiting from full team training at the moment. And I am really confident that next season we'll have a really great year.

Can you shine any light on Bayern Munich links with Anthony Gordon?

“No, none. That’s not something I’m involved in.”

How much more to come from Osula?

I think a lot more. He has really rich potential. He's outstandingly quick, powerful, can score goals off both feet, he's good in the air. He has a real array of different scoring techniques he can use. He's really willing to learn and improve, I really love that about him. From day one here he's put a lot of work in. He really has. He's very committed to that process. In general he has a really good attitude to football. He enjoys the game, he wants to play. He's a very positive guy. It's great to see him doing well. I've seen how hard he's had to work to get that success and now he's in the team and doing well, he has to make sure he sticks to those processes that have worked for him.

Pick your team

Apart from the Lewis Miley, it will be the same NUFC squad that was available for the Brighton win last weekend. Howe's changes worked against the Seagulls - so who should start at the City Ground?

Pick your NUFC XI for Sunday here.

Howe on Fabian Schar's contract situation

Every situation is different and it is difficult to give a definitive date on that. I will be in communication with Ross between now and the end of the season and when we know, we know.

Howe on Fabian Schar's fitness

Not 100% sure. His situation was slightly unique. He was very close to returning to full fitness but then picked up that infection. He is building up his strength and resilience again. He is looking a lot more positive in his body at the moment but whether or not we will see him on the pitch this season we will wait and see.

Howe reveals he reached out to Elliot Anderson after his mum passed away

I reached out to him. Very sad news for him and his family and having been there myself, I totally know about those emotions and feelings. We have a really good relationship. I respect him as a footballer and a person and I am really pleased to see him doing so well. For me, that was never in doubt.

Can Newcastle qualify for Europe?

We are looking at it this way, to try and win our last three games. The lads have been focused this week and trained well. That is where I get my measurement from, it has been strong. It has been strong last week and it has been strong again.

Howe hopeful of Miley pre-season return

We anticipate he will be in and around pre-season. Injuries will have different things happen in between but our plan will be he is in and around training pre-season. Whether he will play the games we will wait and see. The most important thing short term for Lewy is to relax, focus on the injury and the surgery went really well and I think we are in a good place.

Howe on Gordon future

It is difficult for me to comment too much on individual players and timescales as that is going into an area that isn't really my forte. I will leave that to other people. All I am doing is try and finish the season in a strong way and make sure players are committed to the here and now. there is no point looking to the future. The summer transfer window is difficult to predict and difficult to see what is going to happen on any level at this moment in time. We have three games to play and our full focus is on that.

Howe: Media blow up Woltemade disappointment

Nick's fine, I think that is a natural reaction. I think if you looked at any player who didn't come on the pitch, there will always be a sense of disappointment as everyone wants to play. He has been training well. Since we have returned to team training it has been really good for him and all of the new players. It has really helped them have a greater understanding of what we want him to do. The media will no doubt blow everything up but he is training well, he is committed and we really value him. Obviously I have the difficult job of picking a team every week and there will be disappointment for players who miss out. All I ask is those players give their all and support their team-mates and that is what Nick is doing.

Howe reveals Livramento may be out for the rest of the season

Tino is doing well. He is really improving and running on the grass again. I don't think we will see him again this season. We could maybe push him for the Fulham game but that would feel silly. I think let's him recover and get a good summer behind him.

Howe on Miley's injury frustration

It has been a huge frustration for him. He's had some really unfortunate moments. This was a slip and nothing he could have done about it. We tried to not overload him and are aware of his age. Athletically he is outstanding and he is really strong but he is still growing.

Howe on Miley

It was a really innocuous moment in training, nobody around him, he slipped and went down. We thought in that moment it was just a twist. He was unable to continue and it was obviously more serious than we originally thought. He faces a few months out and we hope he will be back in and around pre-season. It is a real blow for us and for Lewy.

Your questions for Howe

One thing we always get as journalists is 'why didn't you ask him about this?'

What question would you ask Eddie Howe if you were sat in this morning's Press conference? Leave your question in the comments

In place

We are in place at the Newcastle United media centre for Eddie Howe's pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend's trip to Nottingham Forest. Stick with us for updates from 9:30am.

Forest injury issues

Nottingham Forest crashed out of the Europa League last night, suffering semi-final heartache after a 4-0 second leg defeat against Aston Villa. How that will affect them heading into Sunday's game remains to be seen but boss Vitor Pereira says they have a number of injury issues.

“If you look before the game on the bench we had three players, because the other ones were injured. Our bench today the only solutions we had from the first team was Bakwa, Lucca; Murillo we tried but he was injured and not in condition, and Yates. This is very short to come here without solutions.

“Aina out. Dan Ndoye out. Sangare out. Callum out. Murillo out. Morgan out. It is too much. I don’t know if some of them can recover for the next match.”

Anthony Gordon latest

Bayern Munich have made the first move in the race to sign Anthony Gordon - but are not alone in their interest in the Newcastle United winger.

The German giants are keen to bring him to the Bundesliga, but Newcastle will hold out for the full value of the England star.

Gordon is under contract until 2030 and while United know they need to sell some players to help finance future spending, they will not cave to any pressure.

Full details here.

Youngster to get chance?

With Livramento and Miley's injuries, Howe, of course, has Kieran Trippier to turn to at right-back for the must-win clash at Forest on Sunday. Youngster Leo Shahar is also in the squad as back-up and will be hungry to make his Premier League debut before the season is done and dusted.

Shahar's only appearance of the season so far came in the 3-2 win over Qarabag at St James' Park in the Champions League play-off round. Republic of Ireland youngster Alex Murphy could also add some cover to the squad for the final three matches.

Wissa blast

One player Howe will be probed on is Yoane Wissa. The striker has made a bit more of an impact in recent games from the bench, but according to one pundit today is 'always going to be a squad player' at St James' Park.

That is the brutal view of former Liverpool forward John Aldridge who believes Wissa 'fit the bill' at Brentford but can't handle the pressure at Newcastle.

Injury latest

Newcastle United duo Tino Livramento and Fabian Schar have undergone fresh assessments at the Magpies' training ground at the start of the week - but as Lee Ryder revealed on Wednesday, they are out of contention for this weekend's game.

Livramento is still nursing a thigh injury and sweating on being involved again this season in the Premier League, while Schar has been ruled out of the trip to Nottingham Forest this weekend. The ex-Switzerland international is still recovering after suffering an infection in his foot, which ruined his chances of a return for a key part of the run-in.

Livramento, also, is described as 'not close' as he tries to prove his fitness ahead of England's World Cup squad being named.

What's on the agenda?

There will be a number of key topics for reporters to ask Howe about today:

Injuries - Livramento, Schar and Miley

Anthony Gordon's future

William Osula's form

Woltemade and Wissa's chances

Transfers - incoming and outgoing

His own future

European qualification after Villa, Palace and Arsenal reached finals this week

Welcome

Morning everyone and welcome to our live coverage of Eddie Howe's pre-match press conference from United's training ground.

The Newcastle head coach will be speaking this morning ahead of Sunday's Premier League game with Nottingham Forest, with the aim of building on the 3-1 win over Brighton last weekend.

There's plenty to cover, with transfer news likely to dominate as the pieces start to move ahead of the summer window.

Live updates on the way.

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