Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes was "devastated" to learn he is expected to be out for a couple of months after sustaining a hamstring injury.
The Brazil midfielder hobbled off in the closing stages of Tuesday evening's 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in onlyhis second appearance since recovering from a separate ankle issue.
Head coach Eddie Howe said at the time Guimaraes was "a little bit worried because he has never had a problem with his hamstrings before".
Speaking after his side beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday, Howe added: "I think he will be [pushing to get back sooner]. But the timeframe will be the timeframe on this one.
"I don't think there's any miracle cure for him. I think it will be a couple of months. You are probably looking at the end of the international break in March for him.
"That is a blow for us. It is a key stage in the season, he is devastated, but it is what it is.
"We can't do anything about it. We just have to get him back safely and other players have to step up in his absence.
"We did that today - [Nick] Woltemade, [Jacob] Ramsey and [Sandro] Tonali were excellent."
Tonali, Joe Willock and Ramsey were Newcastle's only three senior central midfielders available for the trip to Villa Park.
But Newcastle expect Joelinton to return from a groin injury imminently, and hope Lewis Miley will not be sidelined for too long with a dead leg.
While Newcastle have, obviously, lost games Guimaraes has played in before, including a 3-2 loss against Brentford last week, they have failed to win any of the 10 Premier League matches in which he did not feature since his debut in February 2022.
By contrast, the Magpies have a 53.1 win percentage with Guimaraes in the side in the top flight.
They have also picked up significantly more average points per game (1.8), scored more goals per match (1.9) and conceded fewer goals (1.2).