SEAN LONGSTAFF could miss the remaining four matches of Newcastle United’s season amid fears that his foot injury is worse than previously envisaged.

Longstaff was not involved today as the Magpies lost 2-0 at the hands of title-chasing Arsenal at St James’ Park, having suffered a foot injury in last month’s 4-1 win at Everton.

It was initially hoped that the midfielder had suffered severe bruising, but an initial consultation with a specialist has raised fears that the problem could be more serious.

He is due to have another consultation on Tuesday, and while Howe is hoping he will able to return before the end of the campaign, that is far from guaranteed at this stage.

“I certainly hope we will see Sean again this season, but on the specialist’s advice, he’s going to see a specialist on Tuesday to get it double checked,” said the Magpies manager, who saw his side suffer their first home defeat since mid-February yesterday thanks to a first-half strike from Martin Odegaard and a second-half own goal from Fabian Schar.

“I won’t go into the technicalities, but whereas we thought it was quite a standard injury, a bruise, now there may be a chance it’s something a bit more serious than that. We’re in the dark at the moment.”

Longstaff was missed today, with his absence contributing to an unusually shaky defensive performance that saw Arsenal create a succession of good chances.

Newcastle had decent opportunities of their own, hitting the woodwork through both Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak, but Arsenal’s counter-attacking caused repeated problems with Odegaard impressing in the Gunners’ midfield.

“Sean’s been an integral part of our midfield, and I think when you take him out, we lose a bit of balance,” said Howe. “I think the balance of the team has been so impressive, and Sean does a really important job both in and out of possession for us.

“That’s no slight on anybody who came into the team today though. I thought it was just a different balance to our team with Alex (Isak) on the left and Callum (Wilson) up front.

“I thought both players played well, but we were up against a very good team, and we still created incredible chances. There were moments where I thought we were going to explode and catch fire, but it never quite happened. But Sean’s been a big part of our success.”

In the reverse fixture at the Emirates in January, Mikel Arteta was critical of Newcastle’s time-wasting tactics, resulting in a touchline clash with Howe.

Today, the roles were reversed, with Howe and the rest of the Magpies’ coaching staff clearly frustrated at Arsenal’s attempts to break up the game with a series of injury stoppages.

“It was frustrating from our perspective,” admitted Howe. “We wanted the ball in play and wanted to find our rhythm. It was very stop-start, and that was suiting the away team. As the home team, you want the ball in play. It was frustrating in that sense for us.”