Eddie Howe hopes that Allan Saint-Maximin could be available 'very soon' after the Newcastle United star suffered a hamstring injury.
Saint-Maximin did not feel 100% during last week's rout against West Ham and a subsequent scan revealed damage to his hamstring. Saint-Maximin, as a result, was ruled out of Saturday's victory at Brentford, but Howe stressed at the time it was a 'very minor problem' that would only sideline the mercurial forward for 'a couple of weeks'.
Saint-Maximin has been given permission to return to his homeland for intensive treatment, with a member of Newcastle's medical team going with him, and the 25-year-old was in good spirits when he spoke to Howe over the phone on Thursday night. Saint-Maximin has vowed that he will be 'back soon' and those words were echoed by Howe.
READ MORE: Everything Eddie Howe said at his press conference
"We don't think it's a serious injury, but he's away getting treatment at the moment," the Newcastle boss told reporters. "He's not with us. Hopefully, at some stage next week, he will come back and be available very soon."
While Newcastle will miss Saint-Maximin, who notched back-to-back assists against Manchester United and West Ham, the Magpies have been boosted by the return of top scorer Miguel Almiron to full training. Almiron has not featured since he came off the bench to score the winner in Newcastle's 2-1 victory against Wolves last month.
Almiron subsequently suffered a thigh injury in training a few days later and was initially expected to be out until the end of April. However, Almiron has made good progress in the last couple of weeks and the forward could be involved at some point against Aston Villa on Saturday.
"He's done really well," Howe said. "He's ahead of schedule at the moment so fingers crossed he gets through training and will be available very soon."
Bruno Guimaraes has also been training after rolling his ankle in the warm-up before Newcastle's 2-1 win against Brentford last week. Bruno suffered the scare after playing a long pass to first-team coach Stephen Purches during a one-on-one drill. It proved Bruno's final act in the warm-up and the Brazil international hobbled off the pitch before the rest of his team-mates.
However, after taking some painkillers, Bruno was fine to start and the midfielder ended up playing a full 90 minutes in Newcastle's 2-1 win at the Gtech Community Stadium despite being in discomfort in the opening stages. Remarkably, it was the third game Bruno had completed in just six days.
After the match, though, Bruno admitted he was 'p----- off' with his ankle after previously having to leave St James' Park on crutches after twisting it in the win against Fulham back in January. However, Howe allayed any major worries ahead of the trip to Villa Park.
"If you twist your ankle quite badly, it can be really sore initially and then it calms down and you're good to play," he added. "He's in that moment.
"There's obviously a slight concern that he keeps twisting it and tweaking it, but he's in good hands with the medical team. They have checked him and they're happy with him. At the moment, he's fully fit and we hope he stays that way."
READ NEXT
Newcastle have top four ace Liverpool loved as truth about his exit and new role is revealed
Newcastle lover showed true colours while playing for Sunderland without crowd even knowing
Newcastle 'looking at' new training ground as Amanda Staveley reveals solution to £800,000 bill
Exciting Newcastle summer stadium plan could be 'just the start' amid Borussia Dortmund 'dream'
Gary Neville changes his tune about 'brilliant' Newcastle in bad news for Spurs and Liverpool
