Newcastle will be without new signing Yoane Wissa for another month, manager Eddie Howe has confirmed.
The £55m signing from Brentford injured his knee while away with Congo and is not expected back until after the next international break.
Howe said: “There’s nothing personally I would have done differently. We did everything we did as a football club to try to look after Yoane.
“But it’s like with any footballer when they go away on international duty, you’re not in control of the minutes they play and unfortunately, he gets injured and now we just have to deal the best we can with that situation.
“We think he’ll be out until the next international break. He’s got a race on to be fit for that Brighton game on 18 October. Hopefully he can make it and then, of course, he’ll be such an important player for us.”
Howe has also said record signing Nick Woltemade will be managed closely as he gets used to the Premier League.
The 23-year-old Germany international scored the winner against Wolves last Saturday, but he was on the bench for Thursday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat by Barcelona.