Newcastle United return to action this weekend with a tricky Premier League encounter at in-form Fulham. Eddie Howe's side have lost just once so far this season, but are also yet to record a top-flight victory since their opening day success over Nottingham Forest.
Eddie Howe put the squad through their paces in a training session at the club's Benton base on Wednesday. However, numerous first-team stars were absent as they returned from international duty with their respective countries.
The Newcastle head coach is facing a selection headache in attack with a number of injuries, with doubts surrounding the availability of all three of his senior strikers. Here are three things we learned from the club's latest training gallery ahead of the trip to Craven Cottage.
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Botman absence
Sven Botman took the bold decision of turning down an international call-up with Netherland's under-21s in order to focus upon forcing his way into the starting eleven. The summer signing from Lille has been in and out of the side, with Dan Burn preferred in the Magpies' last outing against Bournemouth.
Howe explained the former Newcastle academy defender was currently 'ahead' of Botman in the pecking order due to his leadership qualities. It is a stance which seemingly prompted the 22-year-old to opt to remain on Tyneside in order to focus on his club over his country.
It was therefore odd to see Botman not involved in the club's latest training gallery, especially given the young defender appeared at the annual Newcastle United Foundation dinner the night before. Dan Burn trained as normal along with captain Jamaal Lascelles, while Fabian Schar missed out having featured for Switzerland on Tuesday night.
Injury clues
Even at this early stage of the season, Newcastle already have a lengthy list of injury concerns. Jonjo Shelvey was ruled out before the campaign even got underway, while Emil Krafth is a long-term absentee after suffering an ACL injury in the Carabao Cup win over Tranmere Rovers.
Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood have all returned from international duty with fresh injury concerns which could rule the trio out for this weekend. Allan Saint-Maximin suffered a setback in his return from a hamstring complaint and was not pictured in the latest session.
Neither was Callum Wilson, although Newcastle's number nine has stressed he is in contention to make his comeback. Kieran Trippier did take part having returned from England duty, but the latest gallery otherwise illustrated that Howe is already having to contend with a number of key absences.
U21 call-ups
The injuries in the final third could require Howe to get creative in finding a solution this weekend. Wilson could yet take his place up front, but the head coach bolstered his ranks with three call-ups from the academy.
Creative midfielder Jay Turner-Cooke and Joe White have regularly trained with the first-team squad in recent months, and were once again given chances to impress. Neither have made a senior appearance yet for the Magpies, yet could be in line for a place in the matchday squad dependent on the injury verdict on several stars.
Another promising talent handed an opportunity to impress was summer signing Jude Smith. The goalkeeper has stood out in recent weeks for the under-21 side, with coach Elliot Dickman admitting the former East Fife shot-stopper has at times wowed academy coaches in training.
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