Double injury blow worries Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce

Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin are being assessed after suffering injuries in last night’s 1-1 draw at St James’s Park.

Bruce said Almiron – who needed treatment in the first half – was “distressed” after being withdrawn at the break, while Saint-Maximin was taken off in the second what with what looked like a groin injury.

“The way he (Almiron) was at half-time told it all, really,” said head coach Bruce. “As I’ve said many times before with Almiron, he’s a wonderful pro, but he was in distress with it. Let’s hope it’s not that bad. We’ll know more after scans – we’ll have scans fixed up to see how he is. It’s far too early to speculate about how serious it is.”

Bruce is already without leading scorer Callum Wilson, and Newcastle can ill-afford to be without Almiron and Saint-Maximin, his two most attacking players.

“We could do with a little bit more luck in the injury situation we're picking up, but we have to get on with it,” said Bruce.

“For the first half an hour, until unfortunately Miggy picked up his injury, we were excellent.

'We have created two, three, four big opportunities and at this level, to be brutally honest, you have to take them. We're a bit disappointed with that and, of course, the injuries again have disrupted us badly.”

The result stretched the gap between 17th-placed Newcastle and the relegation zone to four points.