Newcastle United star ruled out for four months with 'bizarre' injury could return ahead of West Ham & Everton

Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes is hoping to return from injury once again this weekend.

The winger suffered a hamstring injury during the 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of the month and was ruled out of the defeats at Chelsea and Manchester City. Following the international break, Newcastle host West Ham United in the Premier League at St James' Park on Saturday.

Barnes is one of a few players thought to be closing in on a return from injury along with Kieran Trippier (calf) and Tino Livramento (ankle). The trio weren't pictured in training ahead of the West Ham match with a further update expected on Friday morning heading into the final 10 games of the Premier League campaign.

For Barnes, it has been a difficult debut season at Newcastle following a £38million summer arrival from Leicester City. The winger got off to a great start in black and white as he built on an impressive pre-season with a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win over Aston Villa on the opening day of the campaign.

Barnes would have to wait another month to make his first Premier League start for Newcastle. And on his second start at Sheffield United, he last just 12 minutes before tearing ligaments under his toe which would ultimately rule him out for over four months - missing 26 games in total.

"Especially when you newly join a club, the last thing you need is an injury," Barnes admitted. "You want to come in, hit the ground running, show everyone what you're about and help the team out.

"Injury stops that, and you're watching from the sidelines for a good few months. I've been biting at the bit to get back, to get back fit and help the boys out, and that's what I want to do."

Barnes' bizarre injury came about as Barnes attempted to sprint during the opening stages of the 8-0 win at Bramall Lane.

"Asking around, no one's really dealt with this injury – we were almost going into other sports to find out how they've rehabbed it," Barnes added.

"It was really unusual. And even more so for a player. It's like, how has that happened? No injury is good, but it's not your common hamstring where you can go, 'right, I can understand why that's happened'.

"This is just like, how on earth has this happened? What are the chances of this happening?"

After more than four months out, Barnes made an immediate impact on his return as he came off the bench and scored an equaliser for Newcastle in the 4-4 draw against Luton Town at St James' Park last month.

"If you're injured or you come back and you don't score for a little while, it can play on your mind for a bit," he admitted. When you come back and you score straight away, that's one relief – there's a bit of pressure off your shoulders, you can go and enjoy it and your confidence is back up there. It was important for me."

Now Barnes will be hoping to get back to full fitness and make an impact as Newcastle battle for European qualification heading into the final 10 games.