EDDIE HOWE has admitted Allan Saint-Maximin will not be available for Sunday’s home game with Southampton, but the Newcastle boss is hoping the French forward will be able to return before the end of the season.

Saint-Maximin is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, and is yet to be given the green light to resume full training.

He will definitely not feature in Sunday’s meeting with the Saints, and is already a doubt for the following weekend’s home game with current league leaders Arsenal.

However, while Newcastle will only have four more games to play after they have hosted the Gunners, Howe remains hopeful Saint-Maximin will be able to feature before the end of the campaign.

He said: “He (Saint-Maximin) won’t be available for Sunday. Maybe the game after that, but there’s no guarantee at this moment.

“I certainly hope he’ll be fit before the end of the season, but with hamstring injuries, there’s always that element of doubt. He’s not had a setback, he just needs to build his fitness levels up and make sure he’s fully fit before he comes back.”

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Howe will spend the next 24 hours assessing his squad’s fitness levels in the wake of last night's 4-1 win at Everton before deciding on his starting line-up to face a Southampton side that have already played against Newcastle on three occasions this season.

He said: “I’ll assess the squad and see how everyone is physically. The big thing for me, in this period of games we’ve had, is trying to pick players that I think are 100 per cent fit and not take chances with players.

“If I have a choice between two players in a position, then I’ll always pick the more fit player, or the player I consider to be fresher or fitter. So, it’s about trying to get those decisions right because, physically, we’re going to have to be good. This is going to be a tough game.”