STEVE BRUCE will hand late fitness tests to Matt Ritchie and Isaac Hayden ahead of Newcastle United’s FA Cup quarter-final with Manchester City.
The Magpies host Pep Guardiola’s side at St James’ Park on Sunday evening looking to book a trip to Wembley in the last four of the competition.
Ritchie and Hayden both sustained soft-tissue injuries on Wednesday night, and were unable to complete Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
The pair are due to return to training later today, but Bruce admits it is touch and go whether they will be able to line up at the weekend.
The Newcastle boss said: “We’ll have to see how they are today. It’s a big training session today – yesterday was just a recovery day.
“We’ll see how they are. As I said before the start back, we’d be kidding ourselves if we didn’t think we were going to pick up three or four soft-tissue injuries. We’ll have to see what we get with them over the next 24 or 48 hours.”
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