Report: Only five players will have trained fully going into Newcastle’s clash with Chelsea

Eddie Howe faces one of the easiest team selections of his managerial career going into Saturday's game with Chelsea.

Newcastle United have so many players missing heading into the weekend that the team practically picks itself.

Thankfully for Eddie Howe, everyone is coming back from international duty unscathed which is a bonus, but the only player on Newcastle's massive injury list nearing a return is Alexander Isak who is reportedly fit enough to play a part on Saturday.

Eddie Howe gave his players time off to recover

Meanwhile, Howe has used the international break to let his players rest and recuperate mentally and physically, and as the players returned to training this week, The Athletic has revealed that only five first-team players will take part in the entire week's training.

Henry Nicholls via Getty Images

Of the five, only three are likely to start on Saturday and that will be Jamaal Lascelles, Anthony Gordon and Joe Willock with the other two being Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett who will more than likely be on the bench.

Adding back the players who were on international duty and Alexander Isak who is just returning from a long layoff and Newcastle will just about manage to put out a full squad on the day, but we'll expect to see a couple of youngsters filling in spaces on the bench again.

Newcastle have three tricky fixtures next week

Hopefully, the rest has done the lads well, and Kieran Trippier has taken advantage of his unexpectedly shortened international duty and managed to get a couple of days of relaxation in after he dealt with his emergency issue.

Saturday is going to be another massive test for the Mags. In fact, the next three games are nightmare fuel given our injuries, but the togetherness in the squad, the belief in the players and the way Eddie Howe has everyone, right through the squad, drilled to know their role, we shouldn't be fearing any opposition.

We just need to make St James' Park rock like only we can and the lads on the pitch will take care of the rest.