Arsenal to learn whether Eddie Howe will be in Newcastle dugout after Covid-19 concern

Eddie Howe has not given up hope of taking charge of Newcastle for the first time at Arsenal on Saturday.

As per our sister site Chronicle Live, Newcastle are preparing for assistant Jason Tindall to face the media on Friday morning and, as it stands, he will take the team at the Emirates Stadium.

Howe has been in isolation in a hotel room in Newcastle since he contracted the virus last Friday, less than 24 hours before he was supposed to lead his team out for the first time.

Tindall has been overseeing training ever since the Magpies’ 3-3 draw with Brentford at the weekend and will continue to do so for their final preparations ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Gunners.

That being said, Howe has designed each of the sessions and has watched back footage before making recommendations to his backroom staff, with whom he has been in regular contact with.

And, according to the Daily Mail, there is still a chance that Howe will travel to north London.

It is understood that a negative test on Friday would allow the Englishman to attend the game.

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If he does return a positive test, he will be provided with a live feed to set up direct communication with Tindall and his team on game day.

Speaking about the direct contact with Howe last week, Tindall said: “During the game, there was a direct link between him and Stephen Purches and he had a live feed so we could communicate with him.

“At 3-2 down we had a decision to make and in dialogue with Ed, those subs we made were jointly done.

“But Ed has to take a lot of credit for that, he’s the manager and he makes the final call. Bringing on Ryan Fraser certainly made the difference for us and he played his part in the third goal for Maxi [Allan Saint-Maximin].”

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Newcastle will undoubtedly be boosted by Howe’s presence in the dugout, but Arsenal will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 4-0 loss to title contenders Liverpool last weekend.

Even though Mikel Arteta’s side saw their 10 game unbeaten streak come to an end, they will be confident about getting another three points on home soil.

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/arsenal-eddie-howe-newcastle-covid-22268205

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