Newcastle United can all but secure Premier League safety by picking up a result against Liverpool at Anfield in the early Saturday kick off.
Back to back wins over Burnley and West Ham United have massively boosted United’s position in the Premier League with the magpies now sitting in 15th place and the gap between themselves and 18th placed Fulham up to eight points.
The upturn in form has coincided with the return of Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson with especially the former being pivotal in dragging Newcastle closer to safety.
Toon fans will have no doubt have had worries about the pairs availability for the trip to Anfield with Wilson yet to appear in more than a cameo role in the side and Saint-Maximin was taken off against West Ham after a kick he took to the ankle but Steve Bruce has told the media that the pair are available for the game against last season’s champions.
Speaking of his French talisman, Bruce said: “Allan Saint-Maximin is ok, thankfully. He’s trained all week.
“It was a kick to his ankle but he does take a few of those so it’s going to be a constant battle, but he’s ok for tomorrow.”
The approach to getting the magpies’ top scorer back on the pitch has been a bit more cautious and Bruce shedded some more light on the process to get the England international back on the pitch.
“It’s been a part of Callum’s rehab that he takes it easier on a Thursday but he’s perfectly ok too.”
One thing that has usually been mentioned as a criticism to Bruce is his approach in getting players back on the pitch following injuries with players often being rushed back to the detriment of their fitness but it seems Wilson has benefited from a more sensible approach that will hopefully mean he is back without any issues.
In my opinion, Wilson should join Saint-Maximin in returning to the starting 11 despite the recent good form of Joelinton. It may seem harsh on the Brazilian who has two goals in our last four games but we shouldn’t forget the huge impact Wilson has had when in the side.
In other injury news, Karl Darlow is unavailable after having a small operation on his knee, Fabian Schar is making a quicker recovery than expected from the injury he picked up against Southampton but the Liverpool game will come too quickly for the Swiss defender.