JAMAAL LASCELLES is set to miss the remainder of the season after suffering a calf injury while training in the gym last week.

The Newcastle United captain was absent from the matchday squad against Southampton on Sunday, with Magpies head coach Eddie Howe subsequently revealing that he is struggling with a calf issue.

While Lascelles has been something of a bit-part performer this season, starting just two Premier League matches, his absence nevertheless leaves Newcastle somewhat vulnerable to a potential injury to either of their first-choice centre-halves, Fabian Schar and Sven Botman, in the remaining five games.

Dan Burn would be the obvious alternative option, with the current left-back more than capable of shuffling inside to play in a central-defensive role, but the fact that Howe was unable to name a natural centre-half on the bench against Southampton despite selecting four defenders amongst his substitutes highlights the defensive imbalance within the current squad.

“He’s (Lascelles) picked up a calf injury in the gym,” confirmed Howe at the weekend. “It looks like his season could be over. It’s a really big disappointment for us because he’s been incredible behind the scenes. It’s a big blow.”

Newcastle’s ability to avoid a host of injuries has been a key part of their success this season, enabling Howe to select a largely settled team.

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Sean Longstaff missed Sunday’s game with a foot injury, and Allan Saint-Maximin remains sidelined with a hamstring issue, but while other players have been ruled out for various spells over the course of the last eight months, the Magpies have largely avoided the kind of chronic injury list that has crippled the club in the past.

Howe and his medical staff deserve a considerable amount of credit for that given that Newcastle’s players must be playing close to their physical limits given the intensity of their performances and the level of work rate that is demanded of them, with Kieran Trippier admitting that the squad’s fitness levels are a major factor in the sequence of results that has lifted the Magpies to third position in the table.

“That all comes from the staff and the manager,” said the full-back, who has been wearing the armband in Lascelles’ absence this season. “They put us through our paces in training, and we know that we back ourselves physically against anyone in this league.

“We are a really fit team, and you can see that from the way in which the subs that come off the bench are able to make a really big impact too.”