Newcastle United players will train as a group this afternoon in seemingly the clearest indication yet that they will return to action on Saturday against West Brom.
The United training ground re-opened on Tuesday with the team training in small groups.
And on Wednesday the whole group will train together as preparations continue as if the match will go ahead. Newcastle also confirmed referee Darren England would take charge of the 3pm kick-off in another sign the game appears to be on.
Through their social media channels, the club confirmed full training would return on Wednesday.
West Brom are keen to fulfil the fixture and will travel on Friday.
With four days until Saturday's kick off and with United having had a substantial number of positive tests, it remains to be seen whether the picture changes in the coming hours.
And what sort of team is available to Steve Bruce is also unclear, with every case required to isolate for ten days under Premier League regulations.
With last week's outbreak substantial enough to cause the Aston Villa game to be called off, a number of squad members are likely to be ruled out. But Newcastle are keeping both number of cases and the identities of those impacted confidential.
Steve Bruce's press conference ahead of the West Brom game is yet to be confirmed, but is likely to take place on Friday morning over Zoom.
