Newcastle United's Darsley Park training base reopened on Tuesday following a coronavirus outbreak at the club which forced their Premier League game against Aston Villa to be postponed; Steve Bruce's side sit 13th in table
Wednesday 9 December 2020 16:30, UK
Newcastle United's Premier League match against West Brom is set to go ahead on Saturday following an outbreak of Covid-19 within the first-team squad last week.
The playing squad trained together as a group on Wednesday for the first time in 13 days. On Tuesday, on their first day back following multiple positive Covid-19 cases, those that had returned negative results trained in small groups and arrived at different times for their small sessions.
A tweet from Newcastle read: "The #NUFC squad return to full group training this afternoon following last week's temporary closure due to a rise in Covid-19 cases."
The decision was made on the grounds the team was unable to prepare as a group, and therefore the club managed to successfully appeal to have last Friday's match against Aston Villa postponed.
At this stage, there has been no appeal from Newcastle to have Saturday's match follow suit.
Sky Sports News understands a handful of players remain isolating at home following positive test results over the past week, but Newcastle will have enough players to put a team out at St James's Park on Saturday.
Premier League rules state that any player or staff member must isolate for 10 days having returned a positive test. Some of the squad returned positive test results less than 10 days ago, at the beginning of last week.
Neither Newcastle, West Brom or the Premier League have formally confirmed the match will go ahead but it is expected to do so.
Steve Bruce's side were previously in Premier League action on November 27 when Callum Wilson and Joelinton's goals helped to see off Crystal Palace in a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park.
Newcastle are 13th in the top flight after 10 matches played so far this season.
