Howe was asked about the condition of both Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Hall in his pre-match press conference
Sean McCormick is a football writer covering Newcastle United for ChronicleLive. After starting his career covering North East sport, he has had a spell working as an editor on the Manchester Evening News. He also writes about darts and boxing. He joined us in 2016.
Newcastle United Head Coach Eddie Howe and Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United
Newcastle United Head Coach Eddie Howe and Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United(Image: 2025 Newcastle United)
You got the sense throughout Eddie Howe's 35-minute press briefing with journalists on Friday that Newcastle feel much better equipped to deal with Champions League football this time around.
Two years ago, Newcastle were riding the crest of a wave after Howe guided them to a shock fourth placed finish in his first season in charge of the club, having taken over a side who were bottom of the Premier League the season before that.
That positivity came to a shuddering halt during a brutal run of injuries in November and December of the 2023/24 season that saw United reduced to just 11 senior outfield players.
That coincided with being knocked out of the Champions League group stages and the Carabao Cup quarter-final and Newcastle began to slide down the Premier League table as their lack of squad depth was exposed.
United recovered to finish seventh that season but a greater emphasis was placed on player recovery and making sure Newcastle's fitness record improved last term.
Without the added rigours of European football, Newcastle won the Carabao Cup and sealed Champions League qualification and there was a notable difference in the availability of their players.
Newcastle have strengthened their squad depth this time around to ensure they are better prepared for the upcoming run of two fixtures per week.
And that has allowed them to be more mindful about the bigger picture when it comes to team selection.
Bruno Guimaraes would typically be one of the first names on the Newcastle team sheet but the United captain was the only Brazil player to start both games for his country over the international break.
He started in the high altitude Estadio Municipal de El Alto in Bolivia in the early hours of Wednesday morning and Howe has admitted discussions have been held over his condition ahead of the visit of Wolves this afternoon.
"Yeah, definitely," Howe replied when asked about Guimaraes' fitness.
"We've had discussions with Bruno and we'll continue to have discussions with Bruno to see how he feels.
"Any player that enters the pitch, we have to be confident and he has to be confident that he can deliver his best for the team. And I know Bruno will share that view with us, so we'll wait and see."
Similarly, Lewis Hall has been managed carefully this season since returning from a serious knee injury he picked up last term.
The England international is yet to start for Newcastle this term and Howe has admitted he has had to manage his situation carefully.
"Yeah, Lew is one that's really benefited, I think, from staying with us during the international break," Howe added.
"So he trained well and trained physically really well too so I think he's in a much better condition now than before the break.
"I think he's getting there and he's certainly going to play an important part in the coming weeks with all the games that we have and his qualities are undoubted.
"It's just a case of with him being such a young player making sure that we manage him right on the return from this injury because it was a serious injury he sustained."