Newcastle United have been handed a major injury boost ahead of their top of the table SkyBet Championship clash against Huddersfield Town.
Magpies boss Rafa Benitez has confirmed top scorer Dwight Gayle will be in the matchday squad following recovery from an injury.
The forward, who has scored 20 goals so far this season, limped out of last week's home win over Aston Villa feeling his hamstring.
However, tests indicated the 26-year-old's injury was not as serious as first thought with the player's intensive rehabilitation programme over the past few days paying dividends for the Toon Army.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference Benitez said: "He will be in the squad. He is fine and has trained for the past three days.”
Newcastle returned to the top of the table earlier this week after beating fellow promotion chasers Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night.
With Gayle absent for that game, Benitez surprisingly opted to play Yoan Gouffran up front in preference to Aleksandar Mitrovic or Daryl Murphy with Mohamed Diame and Ayoze Perez getting the Magpies' goals.
And after the win on the South Coast, the Spanish boss believes confidence is key going into the late Saturday afternoon kick-off.
“Mentality is important for us. We must believe we have enough quality to win every game,” Benitez said.
The 56-year-old went on to add that is may be David Wagner's side that start to feel promotion pressure as they look to chase down an automatic play-off place.
“Huddersfield were playing without pressure but now they may feel some. When you start playing for something important you feel the pressure”, he added.
