The Italian midfielder was withdrawn early in the second half of the Magpies' 3-1 win over West Ham United at St. James' Park last weekend.

But head coach Howe is hopeful the 26-year-old will be fit enough to play a part at Craven Cottage as United bring the curtain down on the 2025/26 campaign.

Here are some of the main talking points from his pre-match media briefing on Friday morning:

On Tonali's fitness...

"Sandro, potentially, will be available. We will look at him again today. We don’t think it is anything serious."

On the Fulham game...

"We hope to continue the upturn in our recent performances, upturn in our in-possession play, we want to end the season high, it is an important match for us."

On last weekend's win over the Hammers...

"It was great to win our last home game. That left us all with a great feeling. We want to end the season on a real high."

On Will Osula's potential...

"He is at a really good age, lots of things to continue to work on, there are lots of untapped areas we can develop.

"The ceiling in his development is really high. He has the raw ingredients, the physical profile too."