Chelsea have been handed a major Callum Wilson fitness update ahead of their clash with Newcastle after Eddie Howe spoke on the England striker’s illness.
Graham Potter and the Blues face a trip to St. James’ Park on Saturday to take on the Magpies in the Premier League.
Currently down in seventh place, it is important Chelsea pick up a positive result in the last game before the players jet off to Qatar for the World Cup.
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The World Cup will come as a welcome sight for Chelsea fans, with injuries affecting the team currently, hopefully after the break, the likes of Reece James and Wesley Fofana may be ready to return to action.
Their opponents, Newcastle, are flying high this season and have found themselves in the race for the Champions League spots.
Howe’s side have not lost since August, and have only dropped points once since the beginning of October.
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The remarkable form they’ve shown has seen them progress to third place in the table, just seven points away from the league leaders, Arsenal.
For the visitors, they require a good performance after they have entered some stuttering form for the first time since Potter took over in September.
After going on a run of nine games unbeaten, the west London outfit have suffered three losses in their last four matches.
While Chelsea did manage to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Champions League, they are without a win in the Premier League in four games.
They began this run with draws against Brentford and Manchester United and then went on to suffer a 4-1 defeat against Potter’s former side, Brighton.
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Last weekend, Chelsea put in a poor performance against Mikel Arteta’s side, losing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Most recently the Blues also crashed out of the Carabao Cup, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
If they fail to come away with anything against the Magpies, it really will be a rotten week for Chelsea fans.
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The west London side will be hopeful that their opponents for the weekend are without their star striker, Wilson.
It was confirmed on Thursday the 30-year-old, who has scored six goals this season, was selected to be part of the England squad travelling to Qatar.
Currently though, he is battling an illness, and Howe provided an update ahead of this weekend's match.
He said: “We will wait and see. He has been training separately from the group this week.
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“He had an illness so he has been away from the group. He's been working well but I need to make a decision if he's fit enough to play.”
Topics: Callum Wilson, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Eddie Howe, Premier League, Football
Sam Collins