Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has a couple of injury doubts ahead of the Toon’s trip to east London to face West Ham in their Premier League opener on Saturday.
The Magpies will be without number one goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, who picked up an injury on international duty with Slovakia and has already been ruled out of the game.
Bruce has revealed he is also sweating on the fitness of midfield duo Jonjo Shelvey and Matt Richie, both of whom are nursing knocks in the north east.
“They're touch and go,” Bruce said when he was asked about the pair’s status for the West Ham showdown on Saturday.
"Matt’s got a calf and we think it’s from a kick. We’ll see how he is.
"It's the same with Jonjo. Jonjo hurt his knee a little bit.
"I think he’s going to be OK."
Ritchie was linked with a move away from St James’ Park as part of the deal that took Callum Wilson to the north east, however that never materialised and the winger remained on Tyneside and Wilson still joined in a £20million move.
He could make his debut for the Toon this weekend against the Hammers, a team who he has scored seven goals against in his last eight appearances.
Fort the hosts this weekend. they should have Tomas Soucek available for selection after the midfielder was forced into isolation during the international break.
The Czech midfielder received treatment from a national team masseuse who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. Soucek however has posted three negative tests and is available to play for David Moyes.
Whether the Hammers manager chooses to play his midfielder or not remains to be seen as Soucek was forced to miss both of the Czech Republic’s Nations League matches over the break as he was in isolation and his fitness will be behind his teammates.
