Fulham seek to end their miserable run of three straight defeats this afternoon at Newcastle United. The Whites’ wonderful win at St. James’ Park back in February, that breathed new life into their European hopes, couldn’t seem further away with more injuries dogging Marco Silva’s plans and their soaring September form replaced by worries over where the goals will come from and which of his key players will be next in the treatment room. The manager did warn that if you stand still in the Premier League you will go backwards, although he probably didn’t expect his words do prove so prophetic quite so quickly.

It’s far too early to panic. West Ham United have more course for concern – and there were many elements of last weekend’s narrow defeat at the hands of the league leaders that were positive. Fulham were dominant in the first thirty minutes, with plenty of encouraging play, and their second string back four was largely untroubled aside from the set-piece that delivered victory for Arsenal. But the loss of Joachim Andersen is a blow and the fact that Harry Wilson picked up an injury in training in the run-up to another tricky tests adds to the sense that things are not going well.

Newcastle would have been dangerous opposition even if Silva’s side were at full strength. They may not have hit their stride yet away from home, but as Jose Mourinho’s Benfica found out in the Champions’ League in midweek, they are a different beast at home. Mourinho praised United’s creative and energetic wingers in the aftermath of that routine Magpies win – and then added, rather disarmingly, that they have four of them. It could well be Harvey Barnes, who scored twice in midweek, and England international Anthony Gordon out wide today – and they will pose Fulham serious problems. Eddie Howe’s strength in depth looks impressive, even after a summer of turmoil, and the early evidence suggests that they might have done much better than Liverpool despite losing the Alexander Isak tug-of-war after replacing the Swedish striker with a fantastic centre forward in Nick Woltemade, who has already scored four goals in five games.

By finding the net again this afternoon, the former VfB Stuttgart striker can join a select group of Newcastle forwards who have scored five times in six top-flight games or fewer – Loic Remy, Les Ferdinand and Papiss Cisse. You wouldn’t bet against it, with the Whites forced into yet another defensive reorganisation. Joachim Andersen looks set for another spell on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring against Arsenal, with Silva set to decide on whether impressive Jorge Cuenca keeps his place after a commanding display against the Gunners. Calvin Bassey could come back into contention, whilst Issa Diop did little wrong when he replaced Andersen last Saturday night.

Fulham’s full back issues might be eased should Kenny Tete return at right back having made the bench last weekend, but Antonee Robinson remains absent with his troublesome knee problem. That should see Ryan Sessegnon, one of Fulham’s performers of the season so far, keep his place at left back, whilst Silva will be hoping that Sasa Lukic is able to return alongside Sander Berge in central midfield. The head coach scoffed at suggestions that Alex Iwobi could feature in the middle of the park during Thursday’s pre-match press conference, so the dependable Nigerian international – just one shy of 300 top-flight appearances – will probably fill one of the wide spots, with Kevin and Adama Traore in contention on the other flank should Wilson not make it.

Raul Jimenez will be fitter for the run-out against Arsenal when he looked half fit at best, but needs must with Rodrigo Muniz still missing with a muscle complaint of his own. The Whites aren’t quite down to the bare bones, but the brittleness of their squad has been emphasised of late. They will need fortitude, discipline and no little class to come away from the north east with a point or more. Silva can at least point to his side achieving a rare win here last year – and the Whites do have a happy habit of bouncing back impressively from defeats under the Portuguese. Here’s hoping.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Bassey; Lukic, Berge; Wilson, Iwobi, King; Jimenez. Subs: Lecomte, Castagne, Cuenca, Reed, Cairney, Kevin, Traore, Smith Rowe, Kusi-Asare.