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Callum Wilson left Newcastle United’s 4-1 win over Southampton as he was feeling unwell, rather than due to any injury that might have hurt his World Cup chances.
Wilson has emerged as a potential option for England in Qatar after recovering from a fitness concern earlier in the season to score six goals.
But in front of watching Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate at St Mary’s on Sunday, Wilson was withdrawn at half-time.
The striker had shown no obvious sign of discomfort before the break, yet his injury history prompted worries of a setback that would stop him playing for his country. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was injured for Everton on Saturday.
However, Newcastle coach Eddie Howe confirmed there was no long-term issue behind Wilson’s substitution, with the striker having revealed earlier in the week he was battling a cold.
“Callum wasn’t that well in the week and felt light-headed and dizzy, so that’s why he came off,” Howe told Sky Sports.
“It was a joint decision. He didn’t feel he had the energy needed and it was an easy decision to replace him with Chris [Wood], who came on and got the job done.”
Kieran Trippier had gone down late in the first half for Newcastle. An injury to the right-back would have represented a major blow for Southgate, who may already be without Reece James and Kyle Walker.
But Trippier stayed on as Wilson was replaced by Chris Wood with Newcastle 1-0 up through Miguel Almiron’s eighth goal of the season.
The Magpies number nine was scarcely missed, as Wood netted a rare goal for the second and Joe Willock grabbed the third. Newcastle have had a league-leading 12 different scorers this season.
After Romain Perraud replied for Southampton with a minute to play, Bruno Guimaraes completed the scoring in stoppage time.
It was the fourth time Newcastle have scored four or more in their past seven matches – as many as across their prior 226 top-flight outings – and took them above Tottenham into third ahead of Sunday’s late kick-off between Spurs and Liverpool.
