Eddie Howe makes Allan Saint-Maximin admission ahead of Newcastle United vs Chelsea

Eddie Howe reflected on a much-needed 90 minutes for Allan Saint-Maximin in Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Crystal Palace. The Frenchman came through his first start since August unscathed, which will come as a relief to Howe given the winger’s recent hamstring problems.

Saint-Maximin hasn’t played a full game since scoring a stunning late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Indeed, the 25-year-old missed eight out of nine games for United before back-to-back substitute appearances against Aston Villa and Southampton.

Although it was far from Saint-Maximin’s liveliest of games against Palace, he’ll be hoping it’s enough to put him in contention to start versus Chelsea on Saturday evening - the final match before the Qatar World Cup break.

“Yeah, he needed it,” Howe admitted. “Maxi has had a long time out, he is in the group of players who haven’t had a lot of football, even a lot of training time really. I wanted to leave him on the pitch and get that time into his legs. That will benefit him so much.”

Newcastle have coped well in Saint-Maximin’s absence, pulling together a nine-game unbeaten - including four consecutive wins - to move up to third in the Premier League table.

However, Howe & Co are aware of what Saint-Maximin is capable of, with his performance during the 3-3 draw with champions Manchester City earlier in the season a prime example after giving Kyle Walker a nightmare afternoon.