Anthony Elanga injury update gives Newcastle a timely lift

Matthias Jaissle used his Crystal Palace pre-match briefing to sound confident that Anthony Elanga is close to being available again. Jacob Ramsey is also back on the pitch, and Newcastle are trying to get bodies back without asking too much of them too soon.

Elanga is close, but not ready for the full load

Jaissle's message on Elanga was clear. “Anthony [Elanga] has trained this week and worked really hard. He won’t be able to play 90 minutes but he is hopefully ready, at least, to be able to join the squad,” he said, speaking to sportsmole.co.uk.

That fits the wider picture around his hamstring injury. Elanga has missed four league games, and he has only four Premier League appearances this season. In those games he has scored two goals, both coming in his opening two top-flight appearances for Newcastle against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

He has also played 249 Premier League minutes this season, which is a decent return for a player Newcastle will want back quickly. The point is not that he is ready to carry the side, because Jaissle ruled that out. The point is that even a managed return gives Newcastle a direct threat they have lacked in his absence.

Ramsey and Newcastle's slow rebuild

Ramsey's situation is moving in the same direction, if not at the same speed. Jaissle said, “I am happy Jacob Ramsey is back on the pitch. We need to take it step-by-step with him, manage his load management, we don't want to take too many risks.”

Ramsey has been sidelined for the last four matches since the pre-match warm-up before Newcastle's 4-1 defeat at Leeds United on September 14. That is the kind of interruption Newcastle have been trying to work through in a start that has not been especially clean.

They have 11 points from eight league matches, and Jaissle also said the club are still “implementing basics” in his way of playing. The Palace trip now arrives with some cautious good news instead of another injury setback, and Newcastle won 2-0 at Crystal Palace in the verified fixture, Crystal Palace vs Newcastle, on October 25, 2026.

Jaissle is right to keep the brakes on. Elanga and Ramsey are not back as finished articles, but Newcastle do look a little closer to having the squad they need for the weeks ahead.