On the absent Alexander Isak:
"The situation is unchanged. Me and Alex have had a conversation and it's clear at the moment I can’t involve him in the group.
"I don’t know when that will change: it's frustrating we're missing such an important part of the team.
"He is training later than the rest of the squad. There have been discussions since the tour. I don’t think disciplinary action has happened.
"He is here, so of course he has a future at Newcastle. From our perspective, we would love to have him back with the team, but the situation has to be right for that to happen.
"He’s fit, he doesn’t have a fitness issue.
"I’d rather leave it with that line. Discussions between us must remain private but it’s clear that I can’t involve him with the team at the moment.
"I want Alex to be playing today - I want him to be training tomorrow. We would love the player to be with us.
"Let me make that absolutely clear, there is no part of me that doesn’t want that outcome. But I don’t see that (absence) changing before Aston Villa.”
On whether the club could block his sale:
"I don’t think it’s that straightforward, otherwise we’d have done that a long time ago. I don’t think we’re in a position to do that currently."
On transfers:
"We're still looking. We're active and we'll be active until we have the squad we want - and that isn't the case, clearly, at the moment with gaps to fill.
"We're focused on a number of positions and a number of players. We're still working incredibly hard to add (to the squad). I think we're one of a number of teams who have found it difficult to bring in the right players."
On PIF etc:
"The owners are very much engaged, as much as they always have been.
"This has been a challenging period where there’ll be a lot of different opinions on different subjects, but can assure everybody connected with Newcastle that the owners are very much behind the project and fighting every day for the club.”
