EDDIE HOWE is hoping to have at least a couple of Newcastle United’s absent attacking players back for Sunday’s trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham United.

Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Bruno Guimaraes were all absent for the second game in a row as the Magpies were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace at the weekend.

The trio also missed last week’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool, but Howe expects them to be able to gradually return to training this week.

It remains too early to make a definitive call over their likely involvement against the Hammers, and they are likely to have different return schedules, with Newcastle’s medical staff understandably reluctant to push Wilson too hard given his history of hamstring problems.

Nevertheless, Howe is hopeful he will be able to refresh his midfield and attacking line-ups when his side return to action this weekend still looking for their second win of the season.

“Hopefully, they’ll be back soon,” said the Magpies head coach. “Hopefully, they’re not going to be far away. Maybe not all three together, but certainly we hope to get a couple back soon.”

Newcastle played reasonably well at the weekend, and might well have won had referee Michael Salisbury not controversially ruled out Tyrick Mitchell’s own goal for a push on Vicente Guaita by Joe Willock, even though the Magpies midfielder was pushed himself, propelling him into the Palace goalkeeper.

Howe’s side also came within seconds of claiming a point at Anfield last Wednesday, only to be denied by Fabio Carvalho’s dramatic 98th-minute winner, but Howe accepts his side have suffered from three of their leading creative lights being unavailable at the same time.

“I think if you take those players out of any team – real attacking players who can make a difference – then you’re going to notice it,” he said. “We have noticed it. We’ve missed them, but in saying that, I have to give a big compliment to the players that have played the three games in a week. I think they’ve been incredible."