'Not there yet', Callum Wilson's Newcastle United absence in danger of stretching to a fifth month
Eddie Howe admits that he hoped Callum Wilson would be back in action by now after the striker approaches the five-month mark since he last played.
Wilson's last appearance in a black and white shirt came in Melbourne during the club's post-season tour. He was ruled out of pre-season with a back injury and is yet to feature in the Premier League this term.
But Howe has insisted that he is not suffering from a long-term injury, when asked about Wilson, he said: "Callum hasn't had a setback but is a little bit behind where we wanted him to be.
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"We envisaged he'd be training at the moment in preparation for the games ahead. He's not there yet, so he's probably a bit behind where we hoped he'd be.
"There's no injury or re-injury. It's just a case of he doesn't feel like he can push that final part at the moment. Hopefully, in the coming weeks he will. It's not a long-term problem."
Howe also confirmed on Friday that Sweden international Emil Krafth had returned to training after missing his country's UEFA Nations League fixtures through a minor knock. Krafth now goes into the mix for Sunday's clash at Wolves with Howe confirming: "He missed the training towards the back end of last week and the early sessions of this week but he's joined in the last couple of days so hopefully he'll be OK.
"Emil has done an outstanding job, I can't compliment him enough especially when you consider that it is not his first position. He's been playing centre-half now for a while, we started that work with him at the back end of last season when we saw that as a position he could play in and play very well.
"He did that against Manchester United last year in the Carabao Cup, he was magnificent that night. It's an area that we see Emil developing more in as his career goes on with us but having that dual role is key - similar to the qualities Lloyd Kelly has in terms of playing both positions."
Howe has Fabian Schar back from suspension for the clash at Molineux on Sunday. He added: "Fabian's ball playing abilities are unquestioned so we have missed that aspect of his game."