Eddie Howe and Newcastle United will be hoping to get their Premier League campaign back on track when we host Brentford on Saturday night.

This past weekend’s painful loss to Liverpool made it back-to-back defeats in the league, and things don’t get any easier with a trip to the Etihad and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium also on the horizon.

And with Saturday’s game against the Bees being one of two games sandwiched between our Carabao Cup clash against Man City and FA Cup trip to Aston Villa, it’s simply a must-win game in a February packed with tough fixtures.

After Sunday’s Premier League action however, we have just been handed a very welcome boost to our chances of all three points…

Brentford star suspended for St James’ Park trip

Brentford winger Kevin Schade will miss our game against Keith Andrews’ side after the German was sent off against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

The German international was dismissed for violent conduct after kicking out at Matty Cash during their 1-0 win at Villa Park, which should see him banned for the next three games.

It won’t be one that Brentford will look like challenging any time soon, as Andrews himself even admitted it was a reckless. “I think it’s a red card,” he said. “Once I’ve seen it back, I can understand this given why it’s given.”

Schade has nine goal involvements in 23 games this season, and scored in Brentford’s 3-1 homee win over Newcastle back in November.

Bees still a big threat

Despite playing most of the game with ten men, Brentford managed to see out a rare away team win at Villa Park thanks to Dango Outtara’s first half goal: their first league win away at one of the division’s toughest stadiums.

We’ll be hoping to avoid a similar fate as Unai Emery’s side on Saturday: the visitors are yet to win at St James’ Park since their promotion to the top flight.

But Brentford have defied the odds this season, sitting 7th in the table and three points clear of Newcastle despite losing Mbeumo, Wissa, Norgaard and Frank over the summer, with striker Igor Thiago stepping up superbly with 16 goals already.

No Schade on Saturday will likely mean we see Mikkel Damsgaard inserted back into the midfield: a far slower option than the German, but a real technician able to cause problems if given enough space.