Newcastle United have been handed a timely boost ahead of this weekend's trip to Aston Villa with Miguel Almiron returning to full training on Wednesday. The winger, who has been sidelined with a thigh injury since mid-March, looks to be ahead of schedule after joining his team-mates for a full session on the grass for the first time.
Almiron was last seen scoring the winner in the 2-1 win over Wolves last month but has been forced to sit out of Newcastle's last three games after picking up an issue in training. The Geordie faithful had hoped for a speedy recovery after footage emerged of Almiron running during the international break but Eddie Howe was keen to play down talk of a premature return for the Paraguayan.
“I’d love him to beat the timescale given, but I don’t see it currently," the Newcastle boss said after the international break. "He’s making good progress and he’s pain free, so I don’t think there’s any long-term issues, but it’s just the time it takes for the muscle to heal. I think we’re four weeks off, maybe slightly less, but he’s making really good progress.”
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Almiron shared a positive update on his social media channels earlier this week as he posted a video of him stretching at the club's training facilities. The attacker may now have an outside chance of being involved against Aston Villa this weekend.
The same can't be said for Allan Saint-Maximin who remains sidelined with a hamstring problem. The Frenchman missed Saturday's 2-1 win over Brentford but vowed to 'be back soon' after news of his injury broke.
Saint-Maximin is currently in France as he steps his own recovery away from the first-team. The winger posted a video to his Instagram story this week showing him running on a treadmill at a decent speed.
The former Nice attacker is expected to miss the trip to Villa Park but could be fit in time for Tottenham's visit to St James' Park on April 23. Saint-Maximin's injury came at the worst possible time for the fan-favourite after a good run of form in recent weeks.
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