NEWCASTLE UNITED have already suffered one international blow and the situation could worsen by the end of the week.

Goalkeeper Tim Krul has returned to Tyneside for assessment on an elbow injury picked up on duty with the Netherlands.

It means he has withdrawn from tonight’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Iceland and the Magpies hope to see immediate improvement as they want him to be available to face Leicester City at St James’ Park this Saturday.

Krul’s understudy Rob Elliot is on stand-by to slot in against the Foxes, although Newcastle will do everything they can in the next few days to ensure the No 1 starts as they still search for the elusive first Premier League win of the season.

This is also a big week for Africa Cup of Nations qualification, which could to have a significant impact on Newcastle.

Both Cheik Tiote, who is thought to be interesting a number of clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool, and Papiss Cisse want to qualify for the finals and that would rule the pair out of action at club level in the early part of 2015.

Tiote, part of the Ivory Coast side which defeated DR Congo over the weekend, will now play in the return group game fixture on Wednesday when a further win would put them in line for qualification.

Cisse is also looking to help Senegal defeat Tunisia this week to take the lead in the race to progress, with just a couple of matches remaining at the qualifying stage.

If Senegal and the Ivory Coast do reach the Morocco finals – which were given the go-ahead over the weekend despite concerns about the Ebola virus in Africa - then Cisse and Tiote would be expected to head to the finals in mid-January. They could be out of action for Newcastle for six weeks.