DEANDRE YEDLIN will be assessed in the next 24 hours amid fears the Newcastle United full-back could have suffered a serious knee injury in this afternoon’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Yedlin fell awkwardly in the closing stages at St James’ Park, and while he was able to get to his feet after a lengthy period of treatment, he hobbled down the touchline and was unable to continue.

The Magpies were forced to finish the game with ten men as they had already used all their substitutes, and Yedlin will be sent for a series of scans once the swelling around his knee has gone down.

Newcastle are already without Florian Lejeune, who suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury during the pre-season programme, and Yedlin’s absence would be a major blow, with Javier Manquillo the only alternative option at right-back.

Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez said: “It is still too soon to know for sure. There is a problem with his knee, but we need to wait. The doctor has to assess him properly.”

Newcastle crashed to a 2-1 defeat after Spurs scored through first-half headers from Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli.

Joselu scored to briefly haul the Magpies level, and with both Mo Diame and Salomon Rondon hitting the woodwork in the second half, Benitez felt his side were unfortunate not to claim at least a point.

He said: “I think that we deserved at least a draw. We were playing against a very good team, and you could see the quality they have, but at the same time you could see our spirit and work rate and also the chances that we had.

“You make mistakes when you play against good players. Sometimes you make your own mistakes, but in this case you play against good players and it is difficult to stop.

“The way that they pass the ball, and the way that they move on the pitch, and the physicality, you can see that the majority of them are very strong. It is not easy when you have quality, pace and strength.

“They were working hard trying to control them, and the positive thing is that the reaction of the team was quite good. Again, I will say we deserved at least a draw because we had the chances to draw the game.”

Newcastle improved markedly in the second half, with Rondon and Yoshinori Muto both coming off the bench to make their Magpies debut.

The former was unfortunate with a deflected strike that hit the crossbar, but Benitez felt he was right to keep both of his summer signings on the substitutes’ bench for the opening hour.

He said: “I could see that maybe we were right not playing them from the beginning because you could see that they didn’t quite have the right understanding with their team-mates and maybe the fitness was not quite what you were expecting.

“At the same time, that is normal though because they came late during the transfer window. That is why it is better to do things quickly because you have the players ready and you can work with them.

“In this case, I am happy with their effort and movement and a lot of things, but still you can see that the understanding with the rest of the team-mates is not quite there.”

Newcastle’s defending was one of their key strengths last season, but they looked uncharacteristically insecure as Spurs caused a series of problems in the first half.

Benitez said: “In this case, it is quite simple. They (Spurs) have too many big lads, strong lads, who are good in the air, and the delivery was really good.

“You have (Christian) Eriksen kicking the ball, and then you have (Davinson) Sanchez or Alli or (Harry) Kane or (Eric) Dier. They have so many strong, big lads.

“When you have money and you buy players, you buy quality, and quality is not just technical ability. It is also the physicality, the strength and they have all these things. They have quality on the ball, but they also have physicality.”