ALEXANDER ISAK will not be available for Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup game with Bournemouth on Tuesday evening – and Eddie Howe is remaining tight-lipped about Callum Wilson’s injury situation ahead of the meeting with his former side.

Neither Isak nor Wilson were involved as Newcastle warmed up for their return to domestic duty with a 2-1 friendly win over Spanish side Rayo Vallecano at St James’ Park yesterday afternoon.

Isak has been sidelined since suffering a thigh injury in mid-December, and was not involved in Newcastle’s warm-weather training camp in Saudi Arabia.

The Swede continues to edge towards full fitness, but while it had initially been hoped he would be able to return to first-team action after the World Cup break, that timeframe is now regarded as unrealistic.

“With Alex, there was no fixed return date on him,” said Howe, after goals from Sean Longstaff and Chris Wood earned his side their friendly win. “I think the medical team have just tried to look at his recovery day by day, and try to get him in the best physical place he can be in the ideal time.

“We hoped to have him fit and available for the Bournemouth game, but I don’t think that’s going to be likely. We’ll just take it on a game-by-game basis. It’s a difficult one.

“We haven’t got a return date on him. He’s with the medical team at the moment, and he’s working hard and making progress. I can’t give you a return date.”

Wilson was part of the England squad that crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage, and was on the bench for the last-eight defeat to France that marked the end of their involvement in Qatar.

However, he had been troubled by a muscular strain earlier in the competition and was not deemed fit enough to be involved yesterday, with his absence casting doubt over his participation in Tuesday’s League Cup tie.

“We’ve only seen Callum briefly,” said Howe. “But I don’t want to give too much away, to be honest.”

Two of Newcastle’s World Cup representatives played yesterday, with England duo Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier both selected in the starting line-up.

Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes did not feature, but the latter is back on the training ground and could be involved against Bournemouth.

“Bruno’s a player we haven’t seen much of, but he’s such an important player for us,” added Howe. “We need to get his training load right, and make sure when he’s fit and available, he’s at his very best. He’s fine, no problems with him.”

Longstaff opened the scoring in the early stages of yesterday’s game, rifling the ball into the roof of the net after Jacob Murphy cut the ball back into his path.

In front of a remarkable crowd of almost 35,000, Newcastle doubled their lead with 22 minutes remaining as Joe Willock was fouled in the box, enabling Chris Wood to step up and score from the penalty spot.

Rayo Vallecano brought on former Newcastle defender Florian Lejeune for the closing stages, and pulled a goal back when Matt Targett hooked a left-wing cross into his own net.

“It was really good, just the test we needed,” said Howe. “Vallecano have been very good this season, a really strong team. They play, in essence, like a Premier League team, a very aggressive front-foot team. I thought there was some really good stuff from us, especially in the first half.”

Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier (Miley 83), Botman, Lascelles, Targett; Shelvey (Turner-Cooke 76), Longstaff, Willock; Murphy, Wood (Stephenson 76), Saint-Maximin.