Major blow: Howe handed fresh Newcastle setback that'll leave the SJP faithful gutted - opinion

Newcastle United have been handed a fresh setback over the availability of French attacker Allan Saint-Maximin…

Eddie Howe has confirmed that the forward missed out on the matchday squad against Southampton at St Mary’s due to illness. He has also cast doubt over whether or not the 24-year-old will be able to recover from his ailment in time for the Magpies’ next Premier League match.

The Shields Gazette quote Howe as saying: “Maxi’s ill. We hope that’s not a long-term thing for him, but I don’t know whether he’ll be back for Chelsea or not.”

Ahead of this week’s trip to the south coast, the Toon manager said about the winger’s situation: “Allan [Saint-Maximin] is not 100 per cent fit. He did one day of training, his first in three weeks, before the previous game. We are very keen to have him back and back at his best.

“When he came on against Brighton he did well and a key moment gave us a lift. We are trying to build up his fitness and he’s nearly there.”

The St James’ Park faithful will surely be gutted with this news for multiple reasons.

Firstly, this illness comes off the back of an injury for Saint-Maximin. Howe’s comments in the build-up to the match suggested that the Frenchman was close to being back to full fitness, but he has now suffered another setback which could push his return date back even further in terms of when he will be able to be named in the starting XI.

It appears as though the 24-year-old has had some terrible luck with the timing of this illness, and Newcastle fans will be frustrated by how unlucky he has been. They will surely want to see him back out on the pitch as quickly as possible but everything seems to be conspiring against him at the moment.

It is a major blow for Howe as