Newcastle United face losing £40m star for two games at worst possible time for Eddie Howe

Eddie Howe is already facing a bit of a selection crisis after his already thin Newcastle United squad was reduced in January with no further additions made, and since then three big players have been chalked off the availability list.

Anthony Gordon got himself sent off against Brighton last week, picking up a three-match ban in the process meaning he will miss Monday night's trip to West Ham, next Sunday's Carabao Cup final and the home tie against Brentford on 2nd April after the international break.

More long-term, Sven Botman has been ruled out for at least eight weeks as he needs surgery on another knee problem, while Lewis Hall won't be seen again this season after also having surgery.

Jamaal Lascelles has been absent all season and there's no sign of his return on the horizon either.

Joelinton is staring down the barrel of a two-match ban

The last thing Newcastle needs now is another player missing, but Brazilian midfielder Joelinton is one yellow card away from a two-game ban after already serving a one-match ban for accumulation of yellow cards this season.

Should the £40 million signing from Hoffenheim pick up a booking on Monday night against West Ham, he will still be okay to play at Wembley on Sunday as yellow card suspensions don't cross over competitions, but he will miss that visit of Brentford and then the trip to Leicester City a week later.

With Joelinton it does feel like a case of when and not if he's booked, but if he could at least go a few more games before picking up that inevitable card, we'd very much appreciate it. At least wait for Anthony Gordon to return. One out, one in.

Can Joelinton emulate his bestie's feat from last season?

Bruno Guimaraes managed to avoid a booking in the last 10 games of last season when he was one card away from suspension, it would be amazing if Joelinton could repeat that feat, but Joey's game is too aggressive for us to really expect that.

Referees also tend to book Joelinton just for looking at them wrong.

Let's hope he can keep a cool head, at least for a few games. Maybe he just gets booked in the final to get it out of his system.