Newcastle United v Fulham injury news as six ruled out and three doubtful

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has revealed injured duo Matt Targett and Jonjo Shelvey are ‘still some time away’ from making a return to first-team action.

The duo will once again sit on the sidelines as their side face in-form Fulham at St James Park this afternoon as they continue their comeback from injuries suffered in the last month. Former Villa defender Targett has a heel injury and no firm return date has yet been set and Shelvey is around a month away from being available after picking up an injury in the friendly win against Rayo Vallacano last month.

Howe delivered an update on their bid to return to fitness and confirmed midfielder Matty Longstaff has now undergo surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered during a loan spell with League Two club Colchester United.

Howe said: “Matt Targett and Jonjo Shelvey continue their journeys back. I think they are both respectively doing well but they are still some time away. A part from that, I think we are pretty much OK. We’ve got a lot of loan players who have picked up injuries out and about. Matty Longstaff has just had his operation on his ACL, so we wish him well.”

The United manager will have to make a late decision on whether to retain Joelinton in his starting eleven after the Brazilian star was charged with drink driving Thursday. Full-back Emil Krafth remains unavailable as he continues his comeback from the knee injury he suffered in the Carabao Cup second round win at Tranmere Rovers in August.

Fulham manager Marco Silva also has a big call to make in the aftermath of Thursday night’s West London derby win against Chelsea.

Former Magpies striker Aleksander Mitrovic missed the game as he served a suspension and that presented an opportunity to former Benfica and Tottenham Hotspur forward Carlos Vinicius. He grabbed his chance with both hands by heading the winner with just under 20 minutes remaining and will hope to have done enough to persuade Silva to leave top scorer Mitrovic on the bench on his return to his former club.

Silva was dealt one blow on Thursday as United States international full-back Antonee Robinson picked up his fifth booking of the season. That means the defender will serve a one-match suspension and is likely to be replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain left-back Layvin Kurzawa. Silva will assess the fitness of defender Shane Duffy as he returns from a virus but midfielder Neeskens Kobano remains unavailable after suffering a ruptured Achilles earlier in the season.

Silva will travel to Tyneside with words of endorsement from his opposite number ringing in his ears. Magpies boss Howe described the Cottagers as ‘a dangerous opponents’ and praised the work Silva has undertaken since he succeeded former United midfielder Scott Parker in July last year.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he said: “They’re very much in good form. I think Marco’s done a very, very good job with the team. I’m very impressed with the style of play. They’re not getting results by anything other than (being) a very cohesive team unit, playing a lot of really good football. Tactically, they’re very interesting, and they’ve got players in form so they’re a dangerous opponent from our perspective. I think it will be a good test of our defensive capabilities, with two very good teams - and form teams - going at it.”