Howe backs Magpies to withstand Toffees test

The midweek visit of Frank Lampard's men has been sandwiched by last Sunday's goalless draw at Manchester United and next weekend's trip to Tottenham Hotspur, as the Magpies look to consolidate their place in the top six during a tricky-looking run of games.

The improving Toffees head to Tyneside just three points shy of a top-half berth and Howe has warned that Lampard's side still boast a "physical edge" to their game - but the United boss believes his charges are more than capable of matching that in front of their own supporters on Wednesday.

Howe discussed a number of topics - and gave a comprehensive injury update - at Tuesday morning's media briefing at United's Benton training centre:

On Newcastle's current injury situation...

"Fabian (Schär) is fine. He's been nursing a foot injury for a while now, it's a long-term thing. He's managed it very well. It just sort of reared its head a little bit towards the end of the game, but I think he'll be fine.

"We're assessing everybody. When you have the three-game weeks, as we're in the middle of now, every day you wake up and the players will feel better for a night's sleep. Hopefully everyone will be okay, but we're waiting to see.

"(For Jonjo Shelvey), I think the key thing is his training, so we are continuing to work him very hard. He's still in the process, and very early stages, of coming back, so he would only enter the pitch at the moment in an absolute emergency for us. We're building his load, rebuilding his training time, but he's looking really good and he's done very well - to this point, he's as fit as I've seen him to be honest, so he's in a great place but we just want to be careful with him in the latter stages of his injury.

"It's going well (for Karl Darlow). He's on the grass with the goalkeepers - not necessarily full training but he's in, again, the latter stages of his recovery, so there's positive signs for Karl.

"(Alexander Isak) we don't think we'll see again before the World Cup. Unfortunately, he's had a setback on his thigh. Maxi (Allan Saint-Maximin) has had a very, very minor irritation to his hamstring, but it's the third time that that's happened. Although it is a very minor injury, because of the reoccurrence, we might have to be careful with his timescale, but we hope to see him before the World Cup break."

On his side having the best defensive record in the Premier League so far this season...

"It's very pleasing. I think it's a compliment to the players, their mentality to defending. We're very much in the mindset here that we want to defend as a team, right from the strikers filtering all the way back to the goalkeeper, and I think you can see that when we've played this season. 

"The collective ambition is to be a really good team in and out of possession. It's an ever-changing thing - we can't rest on our laurels or take what we've done at this point for granted. And every challenge is so unique in the Premier League, so now we come up against an Everton team that will give us a different test to the one we've just faced at Old Trafford - but hopefully it's one we can come through."

On Everton, who are rebuilding under Lampard, and their improvement this term...

"They've made progress. I'd say the games we had against them last season were both very tight, difficult games for both teams - (there was) not a lot in it. We anticipate a very similar test. 

"I think they have improved. They've recruited well, and they've got a real physical edge to their side now. They'll be threats on transitions, set plays, they're a physical team, so we're going to have to stand up to that physical test. But at home, with the crowd, I'd back us to do that."

On Toffees boss Lampard, who played alongside Howe for England Under-21s in 1998...

"I think he's done a very good job. I know Frank well from various encounters - I played in the under 21s with him many years ago. He's a very, very likeable man and I think he's done a really good job (to) stabilise the club. (It was a) really difficult situation for them last year but I think he's made some astute signings in the summer. I think now they're a much tougher team to play against, so we expect a difficult game."

On Sven Botman's start to life in a black and white shirt...

"I don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on him but my faith in him is huge. We really fought to sign him and it was a long battle to get him - we faced competition from other clubs, but we really stuck to our guns because we felt he was the one that we wanted. And I think he's rewarded that show of faith, because I just see so much potential in this game. 

"I think he's very, very good on the ball - I've said that from day one - and he's surprised me, really, with how good his technical delivery has been and how composed he's been in what is a very frantic league. That composure is really valuable. 

"Defensively, I think he's got all the tools. He needs to work and develop certain aspects of his game, like everybody else does, but I do feel he's got a huge platform now to build and grow into the defender that he's going to be."