JAMAAL LASCELLES will return to Newcastle United’s starting line-up for tomorrow’s Premier League home game with Everton.

Lascelles damaged his foot in the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the start of last month, and has been forced to sit out the last six games.

The Magpies skipper was an unused substitute in last weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Leicester City, but with another couple of days of training under his belt, he is expected to start tomorrow’s game in place of fellow centre-half Florian Lejeune.

“He was nearly there (at the weekend),” said Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez. “He was on the bench and nearly there in terms of his fitness. Now he is a little bit better so we will decide.

“When something is wrong, it is always good to have players with personality and character although I haven’t decided on the team yet.”

While Lascelles is ready to return, Paul Dummett is unlikely to feature tomorrow and is also expected to miss Saturday’s game at Arsenal.

The left-back played for an hour of an Under-23s game last Friday, but Newcastle’s medical staff want to continue to progress slowly given that he has been out of action since damaging his hamstrings on the opening weekend of the season.

“He is getting better but he is still a little bit short,” said Benitez. “He played 60 minutes with the Under-23s the other day, but he is probably still a little short.

“We are missing Dummett. Some people were criticising Dummett last year, but now the same people are saying we need him.

“We have lost the only left-back we have. We have had three or four players injured at the same time. Hopefully if everyone is available we can be as solid as we were at the beginning of the season.”