Newcastle United right-back Kieran Trippier has dropped a hint on Instagram that he could return to Premier League action tonight against West Ham United.
The Magpies will finally resume their Premier League campaign after the international break and will welcome a struggling West Ham United to St James’ Park this evening.
Newcastle have fallen to ninth in the league table as a result of being involved in the one remaining fixture of the game week, and taking all three points at home will allow them to leapfrog Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur into fifth.
Capitalising on points dropped over the weekend by Villa and Forest will be essential in their ambitions to comfortably secure a European qualification spot at the end of the campaign and put them firmly in position to achieve it, so another confident performance will be expected from the supporters.
Injuries have played a factor in Newcastle’s inconsistent form over the opening months of the Premier League season, however, positive signs that several first-team players are on the short path to recovering in the coming weeks is a huge boost for Eddie Howe in the congested festive period of fixtures.
The Newcastle boss spoke out in his pre-match press conference to confirm that Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson were back in full team training and although, uncertain about their inclusion for tonight’s game was confident there was a chance the pair could feature.
On Friday, Howe told the press that Trippier was closer to returning than the striker:
“He’s slightly closer than Callum [Wilson],”
“He trained well yesterday and felt good. No ill effects, looked sharp. That was his first day of training so again, we’re in a similar position in that right at the end of the rehab you’ve got to navigate the last few days well.”
Trippier has now taken to his Instagram story to tease fans this morning about his potential to return by sharing a matchday graphic with his 1.5m followers.
Should Kieran Trippier start against West Ham?
There is no doubt that Trippier’s experience and quality will be invaluable to the squad over the coming weeks and months, as Howe manages minutes with rotation across domestic competitions.
However, it would be very unlikely that Tino Livramento will lose his place to the returning right-back as he has been in imperious form for the side in the absence of the 34-year-old.
The young full-back has been getting stuck into his role to show Howe that he is not only the future replacement for Trippier, but a worthy starter to keep the retired England international out of the starting eleven.
That is not to say that Trippier won’t get his opportunities as games are coming thick and fast including a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash in December against Brentford, so there is no reason why he won’t make an impact either from the bench or in the starting line up when a break is felt needed for Livramento.
With that being said, it is a huge boost to have Trippier back in the squad this evening as it is for any manager to have options to introduce from the bench, but with Livramento flying it would be highly unlikely to see him in the starting line up.
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