Newcastle United player forced to withdraw from international squad after fresh injury blow - could return

Jamal Lewis has been forced to temporarily withdraw from the Northern Ireland squad due to injury.

The Newcastle United left-back - who is currently on loan at Championship side Watford - has picked up a foot injury that has ruled him out of Friday's friendly against Romania. The 26-year-old has still been named in Northern Ireland's squad and could return in time for next Tuesday's match against Scotland at Hampden Park.

Former Newcastle midfielder and current Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill officially ruled Lewis out of the trip to Bucharest along with Rangers' Ross McCausland.

"Both Ross and Jamal have gone back to their clubs for treatment, but hopefully they will join up with us when we arrive in Scotland for the second game," O’Neill revealed.

Lewis has made 31 appearances while on loan at Watford so far this season. He remains contracted to Newcastle until June 2025 and is the club's only loan player to receive an international call-up during the March break.

The Northern Ireland international has made 36 appearances for Newcastle since his £15million arrival from Norwich City in 2020. The full-back has hardly played for the club since Eddie Howe's arrival as manager but did feature in pre-season before his loan move to Watford in July 2023.

Watford have an option to make the loan permanent at the end of the season. The Hornets currently sit 13th in the Championship table, nine points above the relegation zone and 13 off the play-off places with eight games remaining.