Another midfield injury blow for Eddie Howe and Newcastle ahead of Brighton

Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is facing up to three months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery to address a hamstring injury.

Shelvey, 30, will be out of action for around 12 weeks following the procedure at the weekend.

It's a huge blow to club and player as Shelvey – who had returned to Tyneside following his summer break in excellent shape after working with a personal trainer in Turkey – suffered the injury during the club’s friendly defeat by Benfica in Portugal on July 26.

The excellence of January signing Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff’s return to form will mitigate his absence to an extent, but the variety provided by a midfielder described at the weekend by Howe as “unique” will be missed.

Howe, who confirmed Shelvey’s prolonged absence, also reported a continuing lack of progress on the transfer front with the club’s pursuit of Leicester midfielder James Maddison in particular having hit the buffers.

He said: “We’re no closer currently, but hopefully the next week or so might be different.”

Skipper Jamaal Lascelles could return after suffering a muscle problem during the warm-up ahead of last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest and Jamal Lewis and Federico Fernandez (both calf) are working their way back towards full match fitness, but fellow defender Emil Krafth (back) is likely to miss out.

The Magpies travel to Brighton on Saturday in the wake of an impressive 2-0 victory on opening day over promoted Nottingham Forest having been reminded of the heights scaled during Kevin Keegan’s first spell in the hot seat in particular.

Howe, however, is refusing to be carried away by comparisons with Keegan’s entertainers ahead of Brighton, who launched their own campaign with an impressive 2-1 win at Manchester United.

Howe said: “If we’re saying the same thing after 20 games, I’ll probably engage in that conversation a bit more, but at the moment it’s just one game and we’re very focused on the difficult run of fixtures we have ahead of us. Time will tell.

“We have a big responsibility not just to win games, but to try to perform in a way that excites the supporters. But as I said after the game against Nottingham Forest, sometimes winning ugly is just as beautiful as winning well.”

Brighton have no fresh injury concerns as they welcome Newcastle to the Amex Stadium.

Midfielder Jakub Moder (knee) is the only absentee for Seagulls head coach Graham Potter.

Having opened their season with victory at Manchester United, Potter is likely to stick with the same starting XI.