'Never rule him out': Eddie Howe speaks of Joelinton's determination to return to action amid injury claims
Newcastle United's battling midfielder Joelinton has been struggling with a knee injury in recent weeks and was withdrawn from the squad on Friday ahead of Saturday's clash with Ipswich Town.
Joelinton was sent to see a specialist to get an opinion on the best course of action, which usually suggests that the news won't be great.
Indeed, a couple of days later, reports surfaced suggesting that the Brazilian would miss the rest of the season.
It's a huge blow to the Magpies as Joelinton is a huge part of what makes up the best midfield in the Premier League along with Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.
Eddie Howe refuses to rule out Joelinton returning this season but it's a long shot
Speaking to the media on Friday morning ahead of Sunday's game against Brighton, Eddie Howe told reporters (via The Chronicle) that he doesn't expect Joelinton to be back this season, but also claims you can never rule him out.
"The likelihood is it'll be difficult [to play again this season]. I think, but with Joe, we could never rule him out.
"I think he's so motivated to try and come back but he had discomfort in his knee last week, just before the game, so he's sort of got a specialist's opinion. That opinion was that it was nothing serious but he needed a period of rest.
"He's now in Brazil and we'll wait and see if we can get him back before the end of the season - but the answer is probably not."
Who should replace Joelinton on Sunday?
I think we'd all like to have Joelinton fighting fit for the run-in given how much is at stake for Newcastle, but at the same time, the last thing we want to do is have Joelinton declare himself fit when he's not and end up exacerbating the condition and we lose him for months next season.
It does leave Eddie Howe with a problem, though, as he opted to replace Joelinton with Joe Willock against Ipswich and the general consensus among fans was that he didn't do enough to justify his place.
We know how stubborn Eddie Howe can be, so there's a good chance Willock plays again, especially after his comments this morning - see our 12:30pm story for more on that one, but we're hoping Howe mixes it up and gives young Lewis Miley a chance.
