Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe explains in detail Callum Wilson's injury situation

Trippier, sidelined since fracturing the fifth metatarsal in his left foot, is having a scan today. It’s hoped that the defender, signed from Atletico Madrid in January, will be available later this month.

"Kieran today has a scan on his foot to see how that’s healed, so, hopefully, the scan goes well, and from this day, maybe we can push him quite quickly to get back,” said head coach Eddie Howe. “Hopefully, we get good news.”

Striker Callum Wilson – who suffered a calf/Achilles problem on December 27 – is slowly stepping up his training, though he is “slightly behind” Trippier, according Howe.

"With Callum, he’s slightly behind Kieran, but he's making good progress,” said Howe. “He's back on the grass running, but I still think he’s got a little bit more time ahead.”

Howe is keen to stress that Wilson, the club’s six-goal leading scorer, hasn’t suffered a setback.

“It’s not necessarily a gloomy assessment, it more reflects the type of injury he’s had,” said Howe, who hopes to have Fabian Schar, Martin Dubravka and Jonjo Shelvey available for Sunday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.

“It needs time. We need to stress the Achilles and the calf in the right way, because if we do it too fast, he’s going to reinjure himself, and if we go too slow, we’re going to run out of games this season.

“With KT, it’s a bone injury and once it is healed he will be good to go. The Achilles is a lot more delicate. It’s not a gloomy assessment, we knew this would take time.”