Allan Saint-Maximin has declared that he and Alexander Isak are 'ready to start' Newcastle United's Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg against Southampton - and the pair have even been doing extra sessions to prove it.
Saint-Maximin and Isak have been building up their minutes following their respective injury lay-offs and the pair both looked sharp when they came off the bench in the 1-0 win in the first-leg at St Mary's on Tuesday night. It was Isak who set up Joelinton's winner with a superb turn and cross while Southampton defender Duje Caleta-Car was sent off late on after he had to resort to cynically taking Saint-Maximin out.
Saint-Maximin and Isak have yet to start a game together, at a time when Newcastle have a settled starting line-up, but they will play a huge role in the second half of the campaign after being carefully managed since their spell on the sidelines. Rather than rushing the forwards back, Howe has been keen to ensure that Saint-Maximin is able to repeatedly sprint a high intensity while the Newcastle boss has also wanted Isak to have more training time with his team-mates, which has not always been possible in recent weeks because of the number of games the Magpies have played.
READ MORE: Anthony Gordon has already passed unseen Newcastle test and his forgotten Eddie Howe exchange
However, given how Newcastle have only scored five goals in their last seven games, Saint-Maximin and Isak are certainly doing all they can to prove their fitness. That even includes requesting to do extras after training.
"You can see the fitness levels of me and Isak are great," Saint-Maximin told BBC Radio Newcastle. "It's been a long time.
"We work hard individually because when you don't start, you need to get some minutes and we work very hard outside training. In every training session, we always ask to do even more after training to be able to be ready and to be at the level the manager wants us to be. Now, Alex and I are ready to start."
READ NEXT
Newcastle will be affected by new FFP change triggered by Chelsea but club have different policy
Newcastle search for new 'elite' addition who will attend transfer summits before busy window
Newcastle show they are not 'nice guys' and do what Eddie Howe wanted as Southampton fume
Southampton blown away by size of Newcastle as Nathan Jones tells them they have found the best
Newcastle send message away from cameras after Southampton and scary Anthony Gordon prospect
