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Howe lost Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin to injuries, and Javier Manquillo to suspension, during last night’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United at St James’s Park.

Newcastle’s head coach had already been without a number of players due to positive Covid-19 tests and injuries, and Thursday night’s game against Everton is now in doubt. The match will go ahead if Howe has 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper.

Asked if he “expected” the Premier League fixture to go ahead, Howe said: “I don’t know. We’ll try to get the game on.

“We’ll see what the situation is with the injured players that we have, and the Covid we have in the camp, and then I think it’ll be a simple process of counting the players.”

On the injuries suffered by Wilson and Saint-Maximin, Howe said: “Callum’s injury doesn’t look good. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what the extent of hte injury is, but the way he went down, I feared the worst for him. He felt he’d been kicked, which is why he got up and felt he could run it off.

“Maxi, I don’t know how bad that is, but there’s certainly an injury there.

“We just need to count the cost of tonight, and see where we are, count the bodies up, and then see if we can get enough to play the game.”

Newcastle are 19th in the Premier League table with 11 points from 19 games.