Having travelled to but not featured in Ukraine, Cheick Tioté and Taylor are almost certain to return.

Goalkeeper Krul left the ground on

crutches, his left ankle bandaged, on Thurday but Pardew has no other fresh concerns ahead of a Premier League game which has still greater importance for him after his time as Southampton manager.

“There’s a question mark over Tim, but I don’t think anyone else will be struggling,” he said. “Cheick had a temperature and didn’t feel right, so we left him out.

“It’ll be a great end to a very good week if we can beat Southampton, but that’s easier said than done. Southampton have definitely picked up and they play a high pressing game which we’re going to have to combat.

“It’s going to be very dear to my heart to win this game. I won’t be pulling any punches in my dressing room that’s for sure.”

If the mood on Tyneside has lifted since the January spending spree which brought Yanga-Mbiwa, Haïdara and four others to St James’ Park, Southampton spirits have also been lifted.

Replacing Nigel Adkins with Argentinian Mauricio Pochettino seemed a strange move at the time, but the Saints have five points in four matches since.

“He’s had a good start and there are some players I love there who I’m looking forward to seeing,” said Pardew. “They got a result over us last time (winning 2-0 in November) and thoroughly deserved it, so we need to perform a lot better than we did when we played at their place.

“Whenever Southampton have gone to the big teams, they’ve done well. They could have beaten Manchester United and they beat Manchester City. They’ve done well and they’ve not had any fear in their play.

“That’s a worry for us, but we’re a better side than we were when we went down to their place. They’re going to have to step up to beat us.”