Eddie Howe embarks on his toughest test as Newcastle United boss to date against Manchester City this weekend. Pep Guardiola's high-fliers are a wounded animal after crashing out the Champions League in dramatic fashion on Wednesday.
City crumbled despite having one foot in the final, conceding twice at the death to force extra time. A 95th-minute spot-kick dumped the Premier League champions out of the competition - meaning the league title is all they have to play for.
Howe will be hoping to capitalise on a leggy Guardiola side that endured a chaotic 120 minutes of football in midweek. However, the Toon boss must do so with several selection headaches in mind.
On a positive note, the Magpies welcome England internationals Kieran Tripper and Callum Wilson back into contention after lengthy absences. The duo are available for selection but it is unclear whether they will be thrown into the line-up.
Fabian Schar has not trained all week after being forced off against Liverpool. On the centre-back, Howe said pre-match: "We haven't seen him this week. We hope he'll be back available but he's not trained yet. He got a knock on the top of his foot so he went for a scan after the Liverpool game because it was swollen up but fortunately there's no fracture."
Another elephant in the room is whether Allan Saint-Maximin will start after his controversial interview with So Foot. Comments that appeared to criticise his team-mates angered supporters online but Howe - and the player - insist they were taken out of context.
On the issue, the Toon boss said: "In no way did he mean to damage the team and the unity we’ve built...it wasn't in the context that he meant. We will be speaking with the squad, and making sure there's no fall-out from that because unity has been our strength. It's vitally important that we keep that at all costs."
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