Newcastle United head into Sunday's Premier League encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers sitting in the bottom three of the standings.
However, the Magpies will move level on points with Wolves, who are currently in 13th position, with victory at St James' Park.
Match preview
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While Steve Bruce would have probably taken three points from back-to-back fixtures with Manchester United and Chelsea, the Newcastle boss will acknowledge that the pressure is on his side to deliver more positive results during an important period of the season.
The North-East team only face one of last season's top six in their next nine outings, which theoretically provides Bruce and his players with a clear opportunity to make headway up the table.
Newcastle lacked a cutting edge at Stamford Bridge last weekend, although keeping an impressive Chelsea attack down to just one goal may bode well for future matches.
The Magpies have also gone almost three Premier League home games without conceding a goal, something which Bruce will feel can be extended versus a Wolves outfit which have not always performed in the final third this season.
Nevertheless, Nuno Espirito Santo's team head into the second of four successive away contests on a seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Despite there being times when the West Midlands outfit have rode their luck during that period, the run of results has provided the club with something to build upon heading into the winter months.
Whether that can be prolonged could depend on how this small squad copes with the current travelling and workload, with Sunday's clash coming in between a Europa League clash with Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia and trips to Aston Villa and Arsenal next week.
Injuries are also occurring more frequently, a factor which Nuno did not have to handle during the last campaign, but whichever team is selected at St James' Park will be motivated to gain a result which would take Wolves away from the bottom three.
Newcastle United form: DLDLWL
Wolverhampton Wanderers form: DWWWDW
Team News
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Bruce has revealed that neither Fabian Schar nor Andy Carroll will play a part of this match due to knee and groin injuries respectively.
The absence of the latter could provide Dwight Gayle with an opportunity to impress off the bench, despite being linked with a January move elsewhere.
Isaac Hayden remains out of contention as he serves the third and final game of his suspension for his red card against Leicester City.
As for Wolves, Diogo Jota will almost certainly be recalled to the starting lineup after two substitute outings over the past week.
Having remained an unused substitute against Bratislava, Ruben Neves should come back into the team, with Leander Dendoncker likely to be his partner in midfield.
That could free up Romain Saiss to drop back into the defence, while Jonny and Adama Traore will hope to get the nod at wing-back.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup: Dubravka; Yedlin, Clark, Lascelles, Dummett, Willems; Almiron, S.Longstaff, M.Longstaff, Sanit-Maximin; Joelinton
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup: Patricio; Boly, Coady, Saiss; Traore, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Neves, Jonny; Jota, Jimenez
We say: Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Last season's corresponding fixture was a hard-fought affair, and we feel that it will be much of the same this weekend. Neither team have scored many goals this season, which could lead to the spoils being shared on Tyneside.
Darren Plant
