STEVE BRUCE is hoping Allan Saint-Maximim will be fit to face Wolves in the Premier League this Saturday - but he is not banking on it.

It is no coincidence that Newcastle’s disappointing run of form over the festive period has ran alongside the absence of the winger.

The £17m Frenchman has not been available because of a hamstring injury, so the team has been bereft of the unpredictable nature of his play.

It could be that Saint-Maximim returns to the fold against Wolves, and Bruce is monitoring his men in the hope of a boost after the draw at Rochdale in the FA Cup.

For the time being Dwight Gayle is around to provide an alternative option in attack, but his absence at Rochdale did raise a few eyebrows given he is one of the likeliest to depart if interested clubs can afford his wages and, possible, price-tag.

“Dwight was injured, stiff and sore, he limped off in training two days ago. Him and Andy Carroll were not available,” said Bruce.

“I hope Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett, Allan Saint-Maximim– Jesus, any more? – I am hoping for four or five are back. I can’t see any of the centre-backs or those who got injured the other day against Leicester being fit.

“Saint-Maximim … the real quality we have at the top end of the pitch with him and Almiron is there for us to see, that quality we see that you buy. We have missed him he is a threat so let’s hope he comes back this weekend.”

Newcastle certainly need a lift from somewhere. The manner of the second half display at Rochdale smacked of a team lacking inspiration on the field, where in the final third Joelinton continued to struggle to live up to his £40m price-tag.

When Rochdale improved after the restart to cancel out Almiron’s 17th minute opener with 11 minutes remaining through Aaron Wilbraham, things could easily have got worse. In the end Dale couldn’t conjure up the winner, but many of the 3,500 travelling fans had already seen enough with chants of “we’re f***ing *hit” directed at the visiting players.

Bruce said: “I never heard that. I was concentrating. I understand their frustration, they expect us to go to Rochdale and win. We are still in the hat. We have had 25 minutes out of Matt Ritchie and we played fantastically well in the first half.

“We lost the two players, I am not going to make excuses, but after that we played people constantly out of position and it was a difficult afternoon in the end.

“It was a lack of bodies in the right areas to keep dominating the game. The last two minutes was difficult because we didn’t have anyone. We are in the hat and we have a replay to look forward to a week on Tuesday … we are still there!”

But the Newcastle boss was adamant it wasn’t all bad at Rochdale, given a first half performance when his team were far better and dominant. The issue, though, was that Newcastle couldn’t add to Almiron’s opening goal when they were clearly on top.

“It wasn’t upbeat in the dressing room, certainly not,” said Bruce. “I will take the positives from the first half, we were playing a right-back and midfielder at centre-back, playing people out of positions all over the place.

“When we lost our two influential ones in Almiron and Muto, in particular Almiron, and then things changed and they made a cup tie out of it. I didn’t expect to dominate the first half quite like we did, but the young ones will now know what it is all about.

“We created chance after chance (in the 1st half). I can’t remember them having a kick. Then, of course, we lost another couple (to injury).

“We lost that control we had with Muto. We had to bring in Matt Ritchie for the last 25 minutes. Let’s hope we get a few back. It’s been a horrible time in terms of that.”

It was another disappointing day for £40m man Joelinton, whose confidence drained further away after watching goalkeeper Robert Sanchez deny him his second of the season in the opening period.

But the Brazilian was indebted to goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the second half for making a number of saves from Oliver Rathbone that could have ended in Newcastle losing.

“Joelinton had a disappointing time. He’s got to stick at it and play his way through. Up to two weeks ago, Almiron hadn’t scored. He’s got to stay with it,” said Bruce.

It was Rochdale’s 40-year-old substitute Aaron Wilbraham who piled more FA Cup misery on Newcastle.

Despite a dominant first half display in which the Magpies managed to hit the break a goal to the good courtesy of Almiron’s 18th minute opener, Bruce’s side were poor and were made to pay.

Newcastle, who have still not reached the fifth round during Mike Ashley’s 13 years as owner of the club, were in the end thankful it ended a draw.

Oliver Rathbone had already made Dubravka make three fine saves to keep Newcastle ahead. With 11 minutes remaining Rochdale got the equaliser that their much-improved play deserved.