Eddie Howe has warned that club captain Jamaal Lascelles may not be back in action until March.

The long-serving centre-back suffered an ACL injury last spring and has not been spotted since the 4-3 win over West Ham United at St James' Park in April. Lascelles was initially understood to be neck and neck with Sven Botman as the pair suffered knee injuries at a similar time, but Howe is not putting any pressure on the 31-year-old star.

It was hoped by fans that Lascelles could feature this month with a clutch of games unfolding in a short space of time and this weekend's FA Cup home tie against Bromley would have been deemed a good chance for a player returning from injury to get their opportunity. But sadly, that will not be the case for the club's 2017 Championship title-winning skipper.

READ MORE: Sven Botman injury update given after Newcastle United issue detected vs Arsenal

READ MORE: Miguel Almiron transfer wait goes on with Newcastle United return pencilled in

When asked for a progress update on Lascelles, Howe told Chronicle Live: "He is still working his way back. He is a little bit delayed from Sven's time. Every player is different, and every player responds differently to the operation. The stresses that you need to go through.

"He is making good progress and he has been been the absolute model professional in terms of what he is being asked to do and how he is conducting himself."

In terms of a comeback date, Howe would not be drawn on that but indicated it would not be any time soon.

The Newcastle head coach said: "Without putting a definitive timeline on it, he is going to be a couple of months away."

Lascelles has watched on as Newcastle narrowly missed out on Europe last season and the defender is eager to be back to play his part. The former Nottingham Forest star, and one of Newcastle's longest-serving players, said: "Obviously, it is tough - mentally just as much as physically - but fortunately for me, I enjoy working out and going in the gym. I spend half my day in there, but it's something I like doing.

"To other players who don't, it would probably be a lot more difficult, but I quite enjoy the challenge, setting myself weekly goals and monthly goals, hitting the,m and then moving on to the next one I still try and do what I can around the group, even though I'm not out on the pitch."