Newcastle may be without Irish duo Shay Given and Andy O'Brien for the game at Fulham on Saturday.

Both were involved in the Republic of Ireland’s Word Cup second leg play-off with Iran on Thursday, meaning they could be suffering from jet-lag after the long journey.

If as expected and both miss out, Steve Harper and Sylvain Distin are likely to start. Harper has been in fine form for the reserves this season and has only been kept on the sidelines thanks to Given’s similar heroics for the first team.

Expected Starting Line up: Harper, Hughes, Dabizas, Distin, Elliott, Solano, Lee, Speed, Robert, Shearer and Bellamy.