Howe: "There's a lot of moving parts with us at the moment"

Wilson hasn't featured since scoring against Manchester City in August and Saint-Maximin has been sidelined since the draw at Wolves that same month. And while Guimarães came back from injury against Bournemouth a fortnight ago, he returned early from international duty with Brazil as a precaution.

Alexander Isak is almost certainly out of the weekend's game after suffering a thigh injury at Sweden's training camp during the break, Chris Wood was also hurt representing his country, while Elliot Anderson missed the Bournemouth draw with a knock.

Howe therefore has some "difficult calls" to make in tandem with his medical staff, but will be keen to travel to Fulham with the strongest squad possible - particularly in light of the Cottagers' strong start to the season, which sees them start the weekend in sixth place after their opening seven games.

Here's some of the key points addressed by Howe in his pre-match media briefing on Friday morning...

On the Magpies' injury situation following the international break:

"Bruno (Guimarães) has trained with us. We've had a couple of difficult calls during the international break - various things had happened to various players. We were concerned for Bruno, but he's come back and the scan was good, so he's trained and he's trained well.

"Obviously it's slightly disruptive for him because these two weeks were really important in terms of his training and getting his match sharpness back but he's physically fine. He's in the squad.

"(Isak) picked up an injury training with Sweden, so he's come back. The scan doesn't look too bad, so we're not overly concerned that there's a long injury, but with any muscle injury there's always a slight period where you have to be careful. But he's out running on grass, so he's looking good at the moment.

"(Saint-Maximin)'s doing well. He's had a period away, he's come back and he's close - very close. It's how we view things; there's a lot of moving parts with us at the moment so I am being vague, but I'm being vague because there's a lot of players' situations that are slightly unclear as we go into the game. Allan will be one of them - I'll know more after today.

"Chris Wood came off (for New Zealand) with a rib problem, he took a knock in the game. That's another player we'll make a very late decision on."

On Wilson, who could make his return at Craven Cottage after two months out with a hamstring problem:

"Callum Wilson has trained. He's trained for around ten days with us now, so he's in a good place. Every time he comes back from an injury, he does the work, doesn't cut corners - he's had a real long body of work in with the sports science team and then training with us, so he's looked good.

"It'll be a huge boost for the players to have Callum in the group with his positive energy and his laughter that he brings. He's a big player for us, no doubt about that, and with Alex picking up his injury as well, it was perfect timing for us."

On new signing Garang Kuol who, it was confirmed this week, will join the club from A-League side Central Coast Mariners in January 2023:

"He's a young player of huge potential. I think it's a show really from the club and myself where we want to go in terms of signing young players and trying to develop them in our system for them to be Premier League players in the future.

"He's had a dramatic rise and he's in a position that excites everybody, but there needs to be some patience shown. He'll go out on loan, he'll learn and develop behind the scenes and then hopefully, when he comes here, he can play a part in our future.

"He's very sharp, agile, quick, a good finisher. He's got a lot of very positive ingredients now that are going to need to be nurtured and developed in the next couple of years to get him to the required level for the Premier League."

On Sven Botman, who remained on Tyneside during the break instead of linking up with the Netherlands' under-21 squad:

"I think everything gets blown out of all proportion. Sven was keen to continue his learning and development here in terms of adjusting to the Premier League. I think he's done that really well; certainly from the two weeks he's had with us, he's trained excellently and I think it's really benefited him.

"We were pleased to keep him because you have that control over what they're doing when they're here.

"We talked at length before he came here about our vision and our plan for him and it was never going to be a case that he was going to step in and play every minute of every game, coming to a new league, being young and learning everything that he needs to learn about the league and his team-mates, and also respecting the players that did so well for us at the back end of last season.

"You have to earn your place and fight for your place and show that you're better than the other players. In saying that, I've been very pleased with how he's adapted, developed, and I'm really excited about what he's going to become for us in the future."

On why Saturday's opponents have made such a strong start to life back in the top flight following last season's promotion:

"A number of reasons. I think firstly, their centre forward, (Aleksandar) Mitrovic, last year had an incredible season but he's carried that form into this, not just for his club but for his country. If you have a striker in that form, with the potency that he has at the moment, that's a really good foundation for success.

"Then off the back of that, they've got very good structure, a really good way of playing. I think Marco (Silva)'s has done a very, very good job with his team. It's going to be a difficult game for us - but one we know that if we get everything right ourselves, we can win."

On the next run of matches ahead of the winter's World Cup in Qatar:

"It's a key spell for us. I think the first seven games have been very, very positive in lots of aspects of the play, maybe not in terms of the point delivery and the amount of games that we've won, so we have to be very mindful of that.

"We obviously want to win, we're desperate to win, we're desperate to achieve great things, but we have to be careful we don't overreact to the fact that we haven't maybe won the games that we've wanted to do and not veer off track from a lot of positives. But ultimately, we know what we're going to be judged on, and that we have to turn those draws into wins."

On the 2,300 travelling supporters set to make the long and difficult trip to the capital:

"The away support we've had has been incredible. I'm always amazed by the numbers that we take and with that comes the travel, the time, the money, the sacrifice to support their team.

"It's never taken for granted by us as staff and the players. That's why we want to, at the end of every game, acknowledge the support and thank people for coming because we know, especially at this moment in time with what's happening around the country, it's very difficult."