Allan Saint-Maximin to miss Everton as Eddie Howe builds up praise on Jacob Murphy

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe feels that Thursday night's trip to Everton could come to soon for Allan Saint-Maximin.

The Toon winger has not been in action since the emphatic 5-1 win away to West Ham at the London Stadium and has been in France recovering from a hamstring issue. But Howe now has the ex-Nice man back at the training ground and his building back up to a comeback.

Speaking about Saint-Maximin's chances for Everton, Howe - who should have Fabian Schar available despite a hamstring concern - said: "I think Everton will be too early for Maxi. "With Fabian, I don’t know how he is yet. We’ve got a couple of knocks in there."

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Saint-Maximin's absence is eased considerably by the early return of Miguel Almiron although Jacob Murphy is arguably playing the best stuff of his career. The level headed winger though continues to put forward the image of the ultimate team player and has not got carried away with his performances.

Murphy's 30-yard strike was a goal of the season contender and left France legend Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot. Talking about Murphy's situation, Howe said: "I don’t think Jacob’s done a lot wrong since he’s come into the team – I think he’s done a lot right. "It’s then very difficult to justify leaving him out, as well as Miggy has done this season for us. "It’s a tough call, but they’re the decisions I want.

"I certainly considered bringing Miggy back into the team, but I wanted to give the team a chance to respond from what happened at Aston Villa. I wanted to give them an opportunity to go and put it right because we did fall below our standards in that game, for the first time in my opinion this season. "The response was emphatic."

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