Newcastle United are feeling the impact of an injury crisis sweeping through the heart of their defence.
Head coach Steve Bruce could be without five of his first-team defenders for the visit of Southampton on Saturday.
Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez and Paul Dummett are out, while Jamal Lewis (hamstring) and Ciaran Clark (partner has gone into labour) are doubts.
That has led fans to ask the question if Florian Lejeune, currently on loan at Alaves, can cut his loan deal short.
He's played 20 times this season and has impressed and would easily slot back into the Newcastle backline.
Bruce, after the defeat to Arsenal last month, was asked by The Athletic's Chris Waugh in the post-match press conference is Lejeune could be recalled, he responded: "No the purpose of it was for him to go and play for the season.
"He's playing week in and week out so I'm led to believe.
"Of course, we keep an update on him, it would be nice for Shola [Ameobi] our loan manager to go out and see him but we can't with the problems.
"The feedback is that he is doing okay. He's fit. He's healthy which is the most important thing, so I think it's important that the kid still plays the game."
