Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew is counting on the availability of Shola Ameobi.
Ameobi is expected to rejoin the squad wearing a mask to protect his fractured cheekbone.
Pardew said: "The mask causes some problems in terms of pain when he is heading the ball, but he looks like he is coming to terms with that.
"In football, what you don't probably report a lot on is that players do play through pain.
"They play through thigh strains and little aches and pains here and there. They are playing through it all the time.
"You get hardened to that, so a little bit of pain in terms of pressure around his face isn't going to hurt him.
"But the most important thing for him that he is finding is visually with the mask because he sometimes can't see really deep to the sides of him and he is finding that a little bit uncomfortable.
"But we hope by Saturday we will get around that."
