ALEXANDER ISAK and Callum Wilson remain major illness doubts ahead of Newcastle United’s crucial trip to Manchester United tomorrow night.

Neither striker was able to train on Monday ahead of the trip to Old Trafford, and while it is hoped they could recover in time to feature, their participation is far from guaranteed.

Isak was withdrawn midway through the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brighton, with Eddie Howe admitting the Swede was struggling with an illness issue, while Wilson was absent from the squad against the Seagulls.

“We haven’t seen Callum yet,” admitted the Magpies boss. “We’ll have to see if he’s available to train. If not, then I’m sure he’ll be fit for Brentford.

“Alexander has also been suffering with illness. I don’t think it’s a serious illness, but he wasn’t able to train either. Again, we’ll have to see if he’s able to train. Fingers crossed, he will, but he wasn’t feeling 100 per cent at the weekend, and I think you could see that.

“He’s been so good in recent weeks, athletically as well as technically. You can see that from all the goals that he scored, but we knew on Friday that he was slightly under the weather.”

At this stage, Isak looks the likelier starter tomorrow as Newcastle look to close in on a European place for next season. Win, and the Magpies will complete their first league double over Manchester United since the 1930-31 season, having claimed a 1-0 win over Erik ten Hag’s side on Tyneside in December. Avoid defeat, and they will guarantee finishing above Manchester United for the first time in the Premier League era and ensure they will finish no lower than seventh this season.

Howe has been able to welcome a number of his injured players back in the last couple of weeks, with Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron all having been on the bench at the weekend.

However, while there will be an understandable temptation to thrust the quartet back into the side given the importance of Newcastle’s penultimate game of the season, Howe continues to counsel caution when it comes to assessing their readiness to return to the starting line-up.

“I’ve got decisions to make in quite a few areas of the team,” said Howe. “But I’d urge caution with the players that have had long-term injuries because I think the biggest mistake I can make is to push them too quickly and then they break down, and that doesn’t help anybody.

“I’ll try to make the right decisions based on the information I receive from the medical team, speaking to the players, and then of course tactically with how we set up in the game.”

Both Pope and Trippier will be especially keen to prove their fitness in the final two matches of the season, with Gareth Southgate due to select his provisional England squad for the Euros next week. However, when it comes to the former in particular, Howe continues to tread carefully.

“Nick’s come back from a serious injury,” he said. “This isn’t a minor problem he had, it’s a major problem to a big area of the body for a goalkeeper. Yes, he’s been back technically fit. But he’s still getting his rhythm back from the training work he’s doing, even now. I’ve been really pleased with how he’s looked, and he’s continued to improve through training, but in every game I have decisions to make, and that will be one.”