Newcastle United vs Wolves injury news as seven ruled out and three doubts

Newcastle United return to action on Sunday when they take on a Wolves side looking to put relegation worries in the rear-view mirror.

The Magpies have been in poor form of late, now five games without a win across all competitions, and that has left them looking up at the top four. Though, with Liverpool losing on Saturday, Eddie Howe’s men can still feel pretty optimistic about their Champions League chances.

Newcastle are currently four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand, while they are one behind Liverpool, again, with two games in hand. Sunday will bring a tough test for the Magpies, though, particlarly given the patchy form they have shown in recent weeks.

Wolves have enjoyed a resurgence under new boss Julen Lopetegui, pulling away from the relegation zone, in part, thanks to last weekend’s hugely impressive away win over Tottenham. The Midlands side are now five points above the drop zone, and they will be desperate to increase that cushion to avoid a relegation battle late in the season.

Ahead of the St James’ Park clash, Newcastle boss Howe has been speaking about his side’s fitness, providing good news on Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes.

“We’ve had some minor knocks after the Manchester City game, we hope nothing too serious,” said the Newcastle boss during his pre-match press conference. “[Schar] trained well this week and we’re pleased to see him back. [Bruno] is fine. He was sore initially against Manchester United but he was back training no problem.”

Elsewhere, Joelinton is suspended, while Emil Krafth is sidelined, along with Harrison Ashby.

As for Wolves, Hugo Bueno is sidelined, while Hwang Hee-chan and Boubacar Traore are both doubts. Lopetegui has also confirmed that Diego Costa will be absent after picking up a knee injury against Tottenham last week. The Spaniard said: “He is out. He had an injury in the last match. Fortunately it’s not very severe, but he has to be out for - I don’t know how many weeks - two, three, four weeks maybe.”

Sasa Kalajdzic and Chiquinho also remain out for the Midlands side.