No sign of Allan Saint-Maximin in latest Newcastle United training pictures - will he be fit for Brighton?

There was no sighting of Allan Saint-Maximin in Newcastle United training on Wednesday - but he could still return in time to face Brighton and Hove Albion.

Eddie Howe hopes the Frenchman will be available for the visit of the Seagulls on Saturday afternoon after he missed the last two games with a calf injury.

While the Magpies picked up four points during back-to-back trips to London - drawing at West Ham and beating Brentford - Saint-Maximin returned to France.

He flew to his homeland for “intensive, specialised treatment” according to Howe after picking up the issue in the recent 1-0 win over Aston Villa.

And on Tuesday morning, the 24-year-old posted a video showing clips of him in the gym and his rehabilitation with the caption “I’m back @NUFC”.

No sign of Allan Saint-Maximin in training

That sparked belief that Saint-Maximin will be back in contention to play a part against Brighton this weekend.

And while that could still very well be the case, training pictures released by the club’s media team suggest Saint-Maximin has not yet trained this week.

Fortunately for Newcastle, they still have Thursday and Friday to get potentially get the winger back into first-team training.

When asked about Saint-Maximin after the Brentford win, Howe said: “Allan, we hoped he would make it but he was some way short in the end. We now have our fingers crossed and hope he can make the next game.

“I think he will be a lot closer for that game. He is a massive player for us and we are aware we need him back for the next game.

“It is great to see the team able to cope. We are missing some really outstanding individuals but the team is strong enough to get results in their absence.

“That is a good sign for the future.”

Meanwhile, Fabian Schar was also absent from the selection of training pictures.

The Switzerland defender has started all-but one of Howe’s 15 games in charge.