Reasons to be cheerful...

LOVE them or loathe them, the international break has bought Eddie Howe and Newcastle United some valuable thinking time at a crucial period of the season.

- By STUART JAMIESON Regional football editor [e-mail] @sjamieson74

The defeat to Brentford has left a bitter taste, coming on the back of that performance at West Ham, and has meant a 'glass-half-empty' view for many United fans.

It's easy to why, with Newcastle languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table and with seemingly little clicking into place on the pitch.

It's far from the whole picture, of course, with the Champions League table looking considerably better and a Carabao Cup quarterfinal on the horizon, but the Geordie faithful are desperately in need of some positives.

Man City come to St James' Park next, but while that’s a daunting task, there could be better times just around the corner for Howe and co thanks to some key returns in the coming weeks.

Change won’t happen overnight, but we're choosing to look on the positive side here due to these important factors.

First-choice fullbacks return

It’s perhaps easy to underestimate how much Newcastle have missed Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, probably because Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn are so reliable.