United head to the Hawthorns this weekend for a crucial Premier League fixture as they look to move themselves further away from the bottom three.
The Magpies will be without the services of influential attacking duo Saint-Maximin and Almirón, who are both out until April after being withdrawn early against Wolves last week, while leading goalscorer Callum Wilson is still sidelined with a hamstring problem.
And head coach Bruce wants his squad to step up to make sure their absences aren’t keenly felt when they take on Sam Allardyce’s men, with the pair’s unavailability likely to hand others a chance to impress.
“It’s really frustrating and disappointing. The first half is arguably the best I’ve seen Newcastle play over the last 18 months against Wolves,” said Bruce, referring to the 1-1 draw last time out. “To be disrupted through injury is really frustrating and disappointing, but the sports scientists and doctors within the Premier League are all saying that the injury levels are unprecedented – they’re through the roof because of the schedule players have had, (and) no break in the summer.
“It’s been very, very difficult, and of course when players are playing tired, they pick up muscle injuries. Unfortunately, we’ve had two of those to our big players. We have to accept it, and somebody else grasp the opportunity, and hopefully they can.”
Bruce has a handful of concerns over some other first team regulars, with Isaac Hayden and Emil Krafth set to be assessed in the coming days.
But centre half Federico Fernández is fit enough to return to the fold, boosting United’s defensive options for the clash with a side currently sitting 19th in the table.
“We’ve got one or two knocks. You know about the major ones, with Allan and Almirón unfortunately,” he said. “We’ll see how Isaac Hayden is – he’s been carrying an ankle injury for the best part of a week or two. Emil Krafth has got a nasty shin injury – we’ll see how he is. We’ll see how they are today and tomorrow.
“(Fernández)’s trained all week, and he might be involved.”
On Wilson’s ongoing recovery, Bruce added: “As far as Callum goes to start with, it’s rest and recovery. We’ve got to let nature take its course to start with.
“He’s working with the physios and lightly jogging, but he’s still unfortunately going to be a bit away.”
Former Newcastle manager Allardyce is bidding to lift West Brom clear of trouble after his mid-season appointment at The Hawthorns.
But Bruce is hopeful his side can avoid being dragged into the bottom three themselves, and wants his charges to focus squarely on the task in hand.
“I’ve said it many times, it’s the accumulation of points,” he said. “Last year we got to a certain area where we were probably safe with five games to go. I hope that’s the case this year, and we can pick up enough points. I still think it’s your accumulation of points and certainly 25, 26 points is nowhere near.
“We just have to concentrate on what we do and we’ve got to win so many matches, and focus on that which is hugely important – and it’s a big opportunity at the weekend.”
On Allardyce, he said: “We’ve been in it a long, long time, we seem to have started together. I’ve got huge respect for what he’s done throughout his career, the longevity he’s got, and he seems to come back and do this firefighting job which he’s been brought in to do as well.
“He’s a football man and very, very good at what he does.”
