EDDIE Howe has told of how Miguel Almiron dispelled Newcastle United's injury fears thanks to his "incredible" behind the scenes work to get back to action quicker than expected.

Almiron suffered a thigh injury in training in March, with Howe now revealing that initial scans revealed worrying results and Newcastle feared the forward faced a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

But Almiron's tireless training and rehab effort - with the help of club physio Daniel Marti - plus a couple of useful trips to Barcelona meant the winger only missed four games.

He returned to action from the bench in the defeat at Aston Villa and has played a part in every game since, but looked back to his very best on Thursday night with a brilliant display in the 4-1 win over Brighton.

The 29-year-old caused the Seagulls no end of problems and teed up Newcastle's crucial third goal with a superb 89th minute assist. 

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Howe was delighted with Almiron's display, the foundations for which were laid during his time out of action.

He said: "It's definitely worth me commenting on his professionalism and what he did do.

"He picked up an innocuous looking injury. It was actually from shooting in training but on the scan it was quite bad.

"We feared we might not see him again for a large part of the season but he worked incredibly hard with Danny Marti, one of the physios here.

"They worked in tandem with each other. He went to Barcelona for a couple of injections but the work and commitment he's given to get back as quickly as possible has been brilliant to see."