Howe relishing return to St. James' ahead of Wolves visit

After playing four consecutive fixtures away from home, Newcastle take on Bruno Lage's side on home soil, aiming to move ten points clear of the relegation zone with a victory over the East Midlands outfit.

Howe says he could be without the services of Magpies midfielder Joe Willock while revealing the spread of illness within the team camp in recent weeks has provided a hindering impact on the squad.

"Joe Willock's got a slight knee problem that's been there for a couple of weeks so we're going to make a late call on him," the Amersham-born coach said. "We don't think it's anything serious but he's become more aware of it in training and it's something we need to stay on top of. 

"There's been a bit of illness in the camp for a while. When these things go through your squad, you're always picking up the effects of it and we've had illness this week and players struggling to get rid of things they've been carrying for a while."

Newcastle are yet to lose a Premier League match at St. James' Park in 2022 as the Magpies bid to extend their unbeaten home run in the English top-flight to six games.  

Howe, who has tasted defeat on Tyneside just once since his appointment in November - a 4-0 loss against league leaders Manchester City - believes the supporters can play a significant role in targeting a fourth successive league win at St. James' Park.

"It's massive for us to be back at home," he added. "It does feel like a long time and we've had a very intense period of away games. We knew that was on the fixture list, the way the rearranged games fell and we knew it was going to be tough examination of us.

"I think we've been away from home too long so it'll be great to get back, play in front of our crowd, and try and generate that atmosphere when you look at our recent home games. It's been electric there. 

"Before the away games, we had a run of home games and I think it was great to build that momentum at home, generate the confidence that winning those games gave us.

"If you can step onto the pitch in a comfortable way at home, with the electric atmosphere the supporters generate, it's a great, powerful thing to have. I hope when we come back, it's like we've never stepped away from St. James'. The onus is on us to approach the game in the right way and get the crowd with us."

Newcastle face a Wolves side, currently situated in eighth place, aiming to move within two points adrift of the Premier League's top four and Howe admits his side must be at their best if they are record a successful result on Friday night.  

"It's a big challenge because they're very good away from home," he added. "Their record has been very good all season and they're a team who are tight at the back. They have very good defensive structures and have players who can hurt you with the ball.

"They've had an outstanding season and have been very consistent if you look through the season. They've had very few bad spells so they are going to be a tough team to play against but we believe we can beat anybody when we've got our A game so we need to do that."

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