NEWCASTLE UNITED’S injury problems continue to mount, with Bruno Guimaraes having been ruled out of Brazil’s friendly against Tunisia tomorrow evening.

Brazil complete their World Cup preparations with a run-out at the Parc des Princes in Paris, but Guimaraes will not be involved, with South American media sources claiming the midfielder has already returned to Tyneside for a medical assessment and treatment.

While the Magpies midfielder joined up with the Brazilian national squad last week, he was not involved in Friday’s 3-0 friendly win over Ghana, with the Brazil hierarchy confirming his absence was due to an injury issue.

Guimaraes missed almost a month after suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-3 draw with Manchester City. He made a substitute appearance in the following week’s Carabao Cup win at Tranmere, but was subsequently sidelined for more than three weeks before returning in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth that preceded the international break.

After coming through that game seemingly unscathed, it was hoped he had completely recovered from his injury issues.

However, his absence from Brazil’s World Cup warm-up games is an obvious concern, and he will now be reassessed ahead of Newcastle’s return to Premier League action at Fulham this weekend.

This is turning out to be a damaging international break for the Magpies, with a number of their players missing matches because of injury concerns.

Alexander Isak was allowed to leave the Sweden squad without participating in any of their Nations League matches because of an unspecified injury problem, while his fellow striker, Chris Wood, was forced off in the first half of New Zealand’s 2-0 defeat to Australia at the weekend.

Wood appeared to suffer a rib injury as a result of a collision with an opponent, and while he was initially keen to continue after receiving treatment on the field, he was eventually forced to concede defeat and leave the pitch in obvious discomfort.

Elliot Anderson also withdrew from the Scotland Under-21 squad last week because of an injury problem.

It is hoped that Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin could be in contention for a place in the squad that travels to Craven Cottage at the weekend, with the former understood to be at a more advanced stage of his recovery.

Wilson has been training at Newcastle’s Little Benton base this week, while Saint-Maximin posted a picture on social media showing him taking part in some light running work. Both players have missed the Magpies’ last three games.