'He has suffered': Eddie Howe hopes there will be no extension to the ban for Sandro Tonali

Thursday saw news break that the FA had found Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali guilty of 50 breaches of betting rules since his summer move from AC Milan.

While the charge is a separate one from the one which saw Tonali slapped with a 10-month ban by the Italian Football Federation in October, the fact that the FA consider these breaches to be part of the same incident he's already being punished for, it's expected that the FA will be lenient with their punishment.

Sandro Tonali has cooperated with the FA from the start which will also work in his favour and reports suggest that if another ban is to be handed down, it would run concurrently with the one he's already serving which means his expected return date will still stand.

Right now it's all just a guessing game as Tonali has until next week to lodge an appeal before any punishment is revealed.

Eddie Howe said the news was no surprise to anyone at the club

Eddie Howe faced the media this morning and was of course asked about the latest charge and how he feels.

"It was no surprise to us. Sandro from day one cooperated and was very honest with the club, with us, with the authorities with what he had done and the issues that he had. So yesterday was no surprise, obviously, it may have been externally to other people to hear this news but we've been supporting him through this process."

Sky Sports' Keith Downie then asked a follow-up question regarding whether he expects Tonali's ban to be extended.

"We don't know, is the honest answer. I certainly hope, for Sandro, that there is no further consequences. He has suffered during this period. He has seeked (sic) help, he's been very honest, he's admitted he's had an issue. I think the best thing for Sandro would be to resume his career having taken his punishment and having learned a lot of lessons from this."

Howe praised Tonali for his mental strength and for how he's just getting on with things

Howe also touched on Tonali's recovery, saying he has regular meetings in Italy and England to deal with the problem he has, but he's training really well and he's been good off the pitch too.

It's great to hear that Tonali is keeping his head right, especially when you look online and see some of the stuff people are saying about him.

We all know what he did was stupid, but the fact that he was still doing it after he signed for Newcastle shouldn't be a shock to anyone. At that point, he hadn't been found out so why would he stop? He stopped immediately after he was caught and cooperated fully with the investigations and is seeking help. What more can he do? Give the lad a break.