Howe’s Depleted Mags Head To Craven Cottage – Who Will Make It?

To say that Newcastle’s international break was a stinker would be putting it mildly. Several first-team players returned to the camp wounded in some way, shape or form. Now, with a game at Craven Cottage tomorrow (Saturday 3pm Kick-Off), Eddie Howe must piece together a starting line-up from what’s left.

Speaking to the media this morning, Howe had some positive news on a few players, so it looks like Bruno will make the squad as will Callum Wilson, but it may still be too soon for Allan Saint-Maximin and Chris Wood and we definitely won’t be seeing Alexander Isak.

On Saint-Maximin, Howe said “He’s doing well. He’s had a period away but he’s come back & he’s close. There’s a lot of moving parts with us at the moment. I’m being vague but that’s because there are a few situations that are unclear going into the game – Allan is one of them.” 

Howe has been saying that Maxi is “close” for weeks now, so either things keep going wrong or Howe is a relentless optimist. The latter holds water given his take when Callum Wilson got injured when he said it wasn’t serious – six weeks later and he’s just coming back: “Callum has trained. He’s trained for around ten days with us now & is in a good place. Every time he comes back from an injury he does the work and doesn’t cut corners. He’s put a lot of work in with the sports science team too so he’s looked good.”

Elliot Anderson will be available again, so hopefully he will get the nod for his first Premier League start, probably in place of Bruno who I think will start on the bench as a precaution.

Fulham, meanwhile, may be without former Magpie, Aleksandar Mitrovic as he has picked up a knock. That will no-doubt displease the facebook crowds who like to post in Newcastle groups every time Mitro scores as if he’s still playing for us.

With regards to the match itself, it’s a tough one to call. Fulham are in good form, we are in some sort of middling form and our treatment room has more bodies in than Craven Cottage can hold. On the other hand, Fulham is a happy hunting ground for Newcastle lately, so a win should be expected.

If we had a full complement of players to pick from, this would be a no-brainer, a definite away win for the lads, but as things are, I think we may be staring down the barrel of another draw.

Match Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Newcastle (Wilson)

****Vital Newcastle are looking to recruit a new writer for the site. If you are a fan of the club and can commit to writing 3—5 articles at least 4 days per week then we would love to hear from you. Mail paddy@snack-media.com for more information****