Matt Targett will return to the scene of his worst nightmare on Monday night - 13 months on from his horror moment at Old Trafford.

It was at the so-called Theatre of Dreams that Targett went down with a hamstring injury and was carried off in the 3-0 Carabao Cup win against the Red Devils in autumn 2023. It would be the last that the travelling Newcastle fans would see of Targett for more than a year in the Premier League, but as Manchester United and Newcastle face off for the final game of 2024, the 29-year-old may get the chance to bury some demons at the famous venue.

Targett attempted to make a comeback with the reserves before his season was hit with an unexpected curveball when he was struck by Eczema and missed eight matches due to the condition of his skin. Being the man manager that he is, Eddie Howe waited patiently for Targett and, when the time was right, handed him a specialised role against one of his old clubs, Aston Villa, with Newcastle in full control of the game.

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When asked if the magic moment for Targett was pleasing, Howe, who applauded the left-back on to the field along with the entire backroom team, he told Chronicle Live: "Well, it was (a magic moment) when you see behind the scenes, you see how he's worked and conducted himself.

"He's had injury troubles, Matt, but has come back and he's trained really, really well."

Targett was sent into battle to replace Kieran Trippier, with Tino Livramento struggling with illness, in an unfamiliar role as a right-back. But Howe had no doubt he could deal with the task. The head coach told me: "Now, he's training as a left-back, but we knew with Tino's illness we would need him potentially if Kieran couldn't make it all the way through the game, so our plan pre-game was to put him on in that position, and he never let us down. I thought he was excellent.

"He's got the experience to play on that side despite being very left-footed."

Newcastle will run late checks on Trippier and Livramento with the ex-England man coming off with a knock in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa and Livramento hoping to overcome an illness suffered on Christmas Day.