Eddie Howe reveals Allan Saint-Maximin injury hope as Newcastle United winger works on comeback

Saint-Maximin suffered a setback from a long-term hamstring injury after making his comeback off the bench against Brentford at St James’s Park earlier this month.

And Howe’s hopeful that the 25-year-old – whose Newcastle career has been punctuated by hamstring problems – will return before the Premier League breaks for the World Cup next month.

Howe – who is also without striker Alexander Isak (thigh) – addressed Saint-Maximin’s return ahead of this afternoon’s game away to Tottenham Hotspur.

Asked if Saint-Maximin could play before the World Cup break, United’s head coach said: “We hope so. I haven’t seen too much of Maxi the last few days, because we’ve been preparing for the games, but I think he's making good progress. He’s very focused on his recovery. He’s working very hard with the physios here to get his injury right.”

Meanwhile, United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey – who suffered a hamstring injury in July – isn’t ready to start a game, according to Howe.

"Well, he's involved,” said Howe. “Is he ready to start the game? Probably not, at this moment in time.

"That's where he is. He's building his training load, he's building his robustness. What we don't want to do is get right to the end of his time back, push him too early – and then he breaks down.

"So we wanted him involved with the squad for his leadership, for his experience.”