STEVE BRUCE is hoping Newcastle United will have a “busy 48 hours” ahead of Monday night’s transfer deadline.

Bruce watched his Newcastle side claim their first victory since early December as Callum Wilson’s second-half double secured a 2-0 success at Everton.

The victory has eased much of the pressure that was building on Bruce, who will now turn his attention to the final two days of the transfer window.

Newcastle are trying to push through a loan deal for Leicester midfielder Hamza Choudhury, and are also in talks with at least two other Premier League clubs about possible loan targets.

Bruce said: “We’ll see what develops – I think it could be a busy 48 hours for a few clubs.

“We hope that we can still do one or two things.”

The one downside to today’s victory was the hamstring injury that forced Jamaal Lascelles off in the second half, and that is set to sideline the Newcastle skipper for a number of weeks.

Bruce said: “He’s done his hamstring. We have found that with some of the lads that have had Covid – they’ve not just been struggling with fatigue, but also muscle wise.

“Feddy Fernandez was the same, Manquillo was the same, and now Jamaal Lascelles is the same too.

“We have been struggling, but of course there’s no real answers with this complicated virus.

“We’ll see how he is once things settle down, but I’d imagine he’ll be out for a number of weeks now.”