Florian Lejeune gives update on his Newcastle comeback

The Newcastle United defender ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in July.

Lejeune had an operation in Italy in August and returned to Tyneside this month to step up his rehabilitation.

The 27-year-old could be back in contention by the end of the year, having gone to the same surgeon in Rome who had Rolando Aarons back training four months after suffering the same injury.

Asked about a timescale for his return, Lejeune told NUFC TV: "I'm working hard on this. I have no date to go and train with the rest of the team.

"I keep my cards close to my chest, because one day I'm fine by the next I'm not, but it shouldn't be too long before I'm back with the squad."

Lejeune, signed from Eibar last year, had worked hard over the summer to be ready for pre-season.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't what I expected or what I was hoping for," said Lejeune. "During the holidays I prepared really hard for the pre-season. Everything was going fine until I got my injury, and obviously this injury hindered my progress.

"But I've been working really hard to try to get back as quickly as possible.

"It was just a very stupid thing to happen, just a stupid kick behind my knee, and I heard a noise, like it was cracking. That was it.

"I knew something was serious when I heard the crack, but it was OK. I could run, I could walk. I could do loads of things, and I felt sort of OK until I went for my scan.

"Then I had a second scan, and the two scans came back saying it was the anterior cruciate ligament. I went to see the surgeons, and both surgeons said that was the case.

"It was like a big hit to the head when I found out the type of injury.

"You never know how long it's going to take to recover from. But thankfully I had the support of my friends, from everyone around, from my wife, so I just thought 'that's it, I've got to deal with it and get operated by the best surgeons', which happened in Italy."

Lejeune also thanks fans for the messages of support he has received on social media.

"I was pleasantly surprised to get so many messages," he said. "I didn't expect so many, and I would like to thank them again very much for all the support that I was getting and am still getting. It's been like a driving force."