Newcastle United boss Matthias Jaissle must wait to see whether he can make any big changes to his Toon line-up against Aston Villa on Saturday night.
The German head coach has already indicated he must be guided by his medical department and wait for the green light to see exactly how many minutes he can use some of his returning stars for.
Returning stars limited to cameos
Jaissle got more than half an hour out of Joelinton and Amar Dedic on Monday night, William Osula came on for 12 minutes while Dan Burn at least got back on the pitch in stoppage time, albeit at the expense of injured Bazoumana Toure.
It remains to be seen when club captain Burn is back in from the start and whether Jaissle disrupts the partnership of Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman. Both were in the heart of defence as Newcastle leaked four goals at Leeds and Coventry.
Jaissle's verdict on fitness
When asked when he could start naming the returning stars in his starting XI, Jaissle said: "They are big players for me and for the club definitely. It is the right step that they are at least in the squad now."
"Unfortunately, they were limited in their match minutes, and we want to use them more. Over the next few weeks they will come back stronger and stronger. Physically, we want them at their best. The injured players are hopefully getting more game minutes. At Coventry, if you see the whole picture, it was not the worst game. I apologise to fans because they deserved a different result."
Injury updates due
Jaissle holds his Press conference this afternoon and will be looking to issue some brief updates on Toure, Jacob Ramsey and Tino Livramento.
Speaking about Ivory Coast international wide man Toure, Jaissle said on Monday night: "Let's see. It's too early to say anything. Hopefully it's nothing serious."
England international Livramento has not been in action since before the international break kicked in and he had to pull out of the Three Lions' squad for the UEFA Nations League autumn series. Jaissle had said back on September 19: "He suffered some discomfort in the morning after yesterday's training."
