WITH an FA Cup fifth-round tie to look forward to, Newcastle United’s season is far from over. The key question now, though, is which players will still be around to see it to its duration.

On the pitch, Saturday’s 2-0 win over Fulham represented a welcome fillip after a testing spell in the league, and took the Magpies beyond the fourth-round stage for the first time in Eddie Howe’s tenure and only the second time in the last 18 years. It might have been scrappy, but when it comes to Newcastle in the FA Cup, any victory is an achievement to be cherished.

It if off the pitch where the main focus will lie in the next four days though, with Howe unable to offer any post-match guarantees over the fate of his players ahead of Thursday night’s transfer deadline. Miguel Almiron and Jamaal Lascelles missed Saturday’s game because of illness and injury respectively, but with intense speculation over their future refusing to go away – Almiron is the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia while Lascelles is firmly in the sights of Turkish side Besiktas – there is still the possibility that one or both might already have played their final game for the club.

The same could be true of Callum Wilson and Joelinton, meaning that the squad that has done so much to transform Newcastle’s standing in the last couple of seasons could be broken up before it has had the opportunity to realise its full potential. While it has been the Newcastle hierarchy’s decision to sail so close to the wind with regard to FFP limits that has created the necessity to sell in order to invest, that would still be a huge shame.

“I think the squad fulfilled its potential last year, but of course this year has been different,” said Howe, who is still without ten senior players because of injury, illness or suspension. “Last year, we overachieved massively I think, and that’s credit to the players for that, not credit to myself.

“This year has been very difficult for us. We’ve had situations you could never have foreseen at the start of the season. I think we’ve been very unlucky at times – we’ve not been able to put our best team out onto the pitch and we’ve not been able to change things in game either.

“But the players have still given their all. They’ve still been committed and they’ve still been together on the pitch, despite some difficult moments. So, yeah, this team still has a lot more to give I think – there’s still loads more in the tank.”

By Friday morning, we will know whether the Newcastle squad has remained intact in order to kick on again in the final four months of the season, with Saturday’s gritty win at Craven Cottage having suggested that at least some of the spirit and resolve that was so crucial last season is returning as key players are restored to the side and back to something approximating full fitness.

It was the quality of the Magpies’ defensive display that was the key to seeing off Fulham, with Howe’s side successfully repelling a succession of opposition attacks that tended to falter once they reached the edge of the 18-yard box.

Sven Botman and Dan Burn have missed big chunks of the season through injury, and still looked short of sharpness during much of the festive period. Here, they were back to their best, with Botman successfully shackling Rodrigo Muniz, Raul Jimenez and Bobby Decordova-Reid at various stages of the game and Burn’s aerial prowess proving a major asset as Fulham resorted to throwing a series of increasingly-desperate balls into the box.

Throw in Kieran Trippier, whose future now appears to be resolved, and Fabian Schar, who has arguably been Newcastle’s most consistent player this term, and you have a return to the back four that carried the Magpies to fourth position last season. It should not really be a surprise that things are starting to look more secure now it is back in place.

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“If you look at the players in the back four – and include Martin (Dubravka) in it, to make it a five – then I think they’ve all got unique qualities,” said Howe. “Dan brings such a physicality to his position, which is important, and which was certainly important against Fulham because they put a lot of crosses in and we defended them really well.

“They’re all good technical players, and you could see with our centre-backs, how well they distributed the ball in the second half. That was a big improvement. And then Kieran’s Kieran. He’s a big difference-maker for us. I was pleased with how we defended. It was important after Manchester City and Liverpool that we improved in that area.”

Newcastle’s clean sheet, which was only their second since they shut out Fulham in the Premier League in mid-December, meant the two goals they scored at the other end proved decisive.

Sean Longstaff scored the first, firing home after the ball had inadvertently hit Bruno Guimaraes on the arm in the Fulham penalty area, with Burn stabbing home the second after Marek Rodak had saved Botman’s powerful downward header from a corner.

“I think we’re capable of going on a really good run in this competition,” said Howe. “The players know the importance of the FA Cup. They were very, very motivated against Sunderland – for obvious reasons – but I don’t think that was just because it was Sunderland, it was also because of the competition and their desire to do well in it.

“They’ve carried that through to this round, meaning we could get through a difficult game against a dangerous opponent.”