Miguel Almiron and Jonjo Shelvey are players Magpies fans are eager to see back in action – but will they return? Scroll down and click through the pages to see what Bruce had to say from his weekly press conference with the Premier League returning this weekend.
5. The home form is impressive too
“Home form, it’s important that it stacks up. We haven’t lost since the first game of the season, we have given ourselves a chance going into the Christmas period. If we can get off to a good start, Palace are a very good side under Roy, it will be a difficult game.” Photo: Mark Runnacles
6. Will there be many or any changes against Palace?
“The disappointing thing is you will pick up injuries but what you don’t want is the same area. Can you freshen it up? We will have to wait and see what we have got. A lot of teams will be in the same situation at this stage of the season and Palace have six or seven missing as well.” Photo: Alex Livesey
7. How will Newcastle stop Wilfred Zaha?
“He is a top, top player, we saw that on Monday against Brighton. They had a large part of the game and then he does a little bit of something others can’t do. He is always going to be a threat. We will have to guard against that. They have been for the last few years now.” Photo: Alex Pantling
8. Christmas can be a defining period...
“Christmas will help if we can get a couple of victories. If we can get up to 25 points before the turn of the year. We have given ourselves a decent platform. It’s important then we build on that in the second half of the season. There are still 14 clubs looking over their shoulders. It would be nice to look the other way.” Photo: Nigel Roddis