Newcastle United defender ruled out for a 'couple of months' after major surgery

While Sven Botman has recently returned from a similar ACL injury after 10 months out, Newcastle captain Lascelles is facing around a year on the sidelines. Magpies defender Emil Krafth previously spent 14 months out with an ACL injury.

Botman started Newcastle’s recent wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal before being rested for the 3-1 FA Cup win over Bromley at St James’ Park. His return to action has prompted an update on Lascelles, who picked up a similar injury at a similar time to Botman last season.

But sources at the club have been consistent in stating that Lascelles’ recovery would take longer than Botman’s following surgery on his knee.

"He is still working his way back,” Howe said in his latest update. “He is a little bit delayed from Sven's time.

"Every player is different, and every player responds differently to the operation. The stresses that you need to go through.

"He is making good progress and he has been the absolute model professional in terms of what he is being asked to do and how he is conducting himself."

"Without putting a definitive timeline on it, he is going to be a couple of months away."

Lascelles is back in light training as he looks to get himself back in contention and on the pitch before the end of the season. In the meantime, the Newcastle skipper reacted to Botman’s return and provided a brief update on his recovery in his Newcastle programme column.

“It was wonderful to see Sven Botman play such a big part in both of those displays,” Lascelles said. “I was really pleased for him on a personal level.

“We've both gone through the same sort of rehab and I've seen first-hand the time and the sweat that he's put into his recovery. It's tough, and I was over the moon to see him get his reward.

“It gives me confidence, too, as I come back from the same injury. I'm not too far off now; I'm back on the grass, twisting and turning and making progress.”