Jamaal Lascelles has been rocked by a fresh injury blow after limping off at Everton in Newcastle United's 2-0 win on Merseyside.
The Toon skipper is immediately ruled out of contention for Tuesday's home clash against Crystal Palace and is doubtful for other fixtures next month.
Lascelles has suffered some bad luck this season after going down with Covid and missing the festive period, only to return and pick up a muscle injury soon after.
However, the Magpies hope that Federico Fernandez will soon be back while Paul Dummett could also bolster Newcastle's options.
Head coach Steve Bruce said today: "He’s done his hamstring.
"We have found that with some of the lads that have had Covid – they’ve not just been struggling with fatigue, but also muscle wise.
"Fede Fernandez was the same, Javier Manquillo was the same, and now Jamaal Lascelles is the same too.
"We have been struggling, but of course there are no real answers with this complicated virus.
"We’ll see how he is once things settle down, but I’d imagine he’ll be out for a number of weeks now."
Bruce was also asked about transfers in the next 48 hours as deadline day looms on the horizon.
Newcastle have been linked with Celtic's out of favour midfielder Olivier Ntcham with claims in Scotland that he is subject of an enquiry by the Magpies.
When asked about transfers, Bruce said: "We’ll see what develops – I think it could be a busy 48 hours for a few clubs.
“We hope that we can still do one or two things."
