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Eddie Howe has declared Sven Botman ‘available’ for selection for Newcastle United against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off).
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Botman has been out for over nine months following an ACL injury picked up in March. But he was back in full training throughout December, barring a minor illness, and has played in a couple of practice matches as well as 60 minutes for Newcastle Under-21s.
With Fabian Schar banned for the fourth match this season following his yellow card against Manchester United, Howe will be forced to make changes to his defence at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Schar was handed a three-match ban following a red card earlier in the season and will now miss the next two matches against Spurs and Arsenal due to separate Premier League and Carabao Cup bans.
Botman missed out on a place in the squad for the 2-0 win at Manchester United last time out as he was nursing an illness.
On Botman’s potential return, Howe said: “I've always said with Sven, he'd [be back] in and around the Christmas games.
“He's worked incredibly hard to get himself in a good condition. He's had three games, a lot of internal training as well so some match stimulus so he's certainly in and around my thoughts.
“I'll have to make a decision as to who I think best fits that position but great to have Sven in and around and available again.”
When asked if he would have reservations about putting Botman back into the side after such a long period without playing, Howe responded: “No, because you go through a process with the type of injury Sven's had, he's done and incredible amount of work.
“It's not like he's not had the training time with us, we've taken longer than maybe we normally would have done through respect for the injury that he had to try and make sure he had the best chance of staying fit and when he comes back, hitting the ground running which is absolutely vital.
“I've got a decision to make in terms of team selection but if Sven is in the squad it's because he's fit and available.”
Emil Krafth and Jamaal Lascelles remain out injured, meaning only Botman and summer signing Lloyd Kelly are Newcastle’s only two natural centre-back options to play alongside Dan Burn in Schar’s absence.
But Kelly hasn’t featured for Newcastle since the 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham United in November. Kelly came into the side in place of the suspended Burn but had a match to forget at St James’ Park.
“They have [been limited] but that's down to the form of the lads that have played,” Howe said in response to Kelly’s opportunities in the side. “Lloyd is a versatile player who can play in a number of positions.
“The form of Dan and Fabian at the heart of defence has been really good of late so that's always a position that is diffiuclt for me to rotate too much.
“I prefer to keep a settled back four and not chop and change. The stability of your team is built on those relationships but Lloyd is training hard and training well and he's waiting for his chance.”