Newcastle have been boosted by the news that influential midfielder Bruno Guimaraes has not suffered any injury after appearing to twist his ankle in their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United last weekend.
After falling short against United, Newcastle travel to Manchester City on Saturday, looking to bounce back from their Wembley disappointment and give their top-four hope a much-needed boost.
And Magpies boss Eddie Howe says key man Guimaraes will be available for their trip to the Etihad, as he suggested Newcastle won't drastically change their tactics to try and stop City by going defensive.
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"Bruno is fine. Short-term pain but nothing that has impacted his training," Howe said.
"I said there's many ways to approach the game. And I wouldn't criticise anyone who does that because that [playing defensively] might be their best way of getting a result. I'm not sure it's ours.
"We were bruised [in the cup final], but very quickly it turned to Manchester City. I didn't think the passion and motivation within me could increase, but I think it has. The passion the fans showed will stay with me, and we want to return that."
Meanwhile Howe refused to comment on reports raising new questions over the links between Newcastle's ownership and the Saudi Arabia regime after Amnesty International called for a fresh review on the Public Investment Fund takeover in 2021.
Howe said: "I'm aware of the headlines, seen headlines but haven't really invested in the details behind it. We've got Manchester City prepared for and that genuinely has taken my focus."
It comes after Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley told the Financial Times Business of Football summit on Thursday that the club are open to a multi-club model similar to that made successful by City's owners the City Football Group.
“Obviously if we’re looking at everything in terms of how we grow Newcastle, how we grow our brand, how we grow our club,” Staveley said.
“An opportunity to buy players affordably well, early in the cycle, is critical to our growth. We’re very focused on our academy and young players at the moment.
“Obviously we’ve looked at multi-club. Whenever you look at multi-club. you’ve got to make sure you’ve got the right fit. It’s complicated and we’re also looking at another structure, maybe something a little bit different that gives us more opportunity to work with a lot more clubs [without buying stakes in them].
"That’s at a quite early stage, so we’re just looking. I think anybody who is looking to buy any club is going to be looking at that multi-club model.”
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