Newcastle United dealt fresh injury blow ahead of Chelsea & Arsenal fixtures - player set for scan

Joelinton missed Saturday’s 3-0 win over Ipswich Town at St James’ Park as Newcastle climbed back up to third in the Premier League table.

The Brazilian had trained in the build-up to the match but withdrew from the squad due to a flare-up of a knee injury that sidelined him for around a month ahead of the Carabao Cup final.

Saturday’s match saw Sven Botman return from knee surgery after almost three months on the sidelines. The Magpies won the match thanks to goals from Alexander Isak, Dan Burn and Will Osula.

Newcastle United Joelinton injury blow confirmed

Joelinton’s absence forced Eddie Howe to make one change as Joe Willock came back into the side. It was the first change Newcastle had made to the starting line-up since the 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Joelinton has been to see a specialist for further assessment and is set for a scan to see whether he will still have a role to play in Newcastle’s remaining four games of the campaign.

Following the win over Ipswich, Newcastle travel to Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend before hosting Champions League qualification rivals Chelsea at St James’ Park. The Magpies end the season with a trip to Arsenal and a home match against Everton on the final day.

Providing an update on Joelinton’s knee issue, Newcastle head coach Howe said: “Yeah, he's going to see a specialist, actually.

“I'm sure he'll be scanned there as well. But he trained yesterday but just felt his knee wasn't 100% right.

“And that's the knee that he had an injury with earlier in the season. He's done brilliantly to play through the number of games that he has without being 100% fit.

“But he got to the point where he felt he needed a slight intervention. So let's keep our fingers crossed it's not serious.”

Joelinton will be hoping to be back in action before the end of the season as Newcastle look to secure Champions League qualification with four games left to play.

Joe Willock impact on return

Willock replaced Joelinton in the starting line-up for his first start since February. Although Newcastle controlled the match and sealed a comfortable win, the midfielder was one of Newcastle’s more quiet performers in the match.

Explaining his decision to call-up Willock to the midfielder over Lewis Miley or Sean Longstaff, Howe said: “Yeah, always a tough decision. But I think Joelinton has played on the left and for us, Joe Willock is a natural player that wants to play on the left, although he's right-footed, very similar to Joelinton.

“So, it's to sort of keep the rhythm of the team rather than bring someone who maybe prefers to play on the right, like Lewis.

“So, that was behind my thinking. Joe Willock is an outstanding player. In his own right, he's done some really good things for us this season. I think he'll benefit from the game today. He's got a big part to play in our last four games.”

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