EDDIE HOWE is hoping Joelinton will be able to return to action with Newcastle United before the next international break in mid-October.

However, Joe Willock will be sidelined for at least another month as he continues to recover from an Achills injury.

Joelinton missed last weekend’s Premier League win over Brentford and Tuesday’s Champions League draw with AC Milan after suffering a recurrence of a knee injury while on international duty with Brazil.

He will not be available for Sundays game with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, and will also miss next week’s Carabao Cup tie with Manchester City. However, his injury is not too serious and he should be back in full training in the first half of next month.

Willock’s Achilles injury, which came off the back of a hamstring problem sustained at the end of last season, is more serious, with the former Arsenal midfielder already having been ruled out until at least the second half of next month.

“We are still missing the two Joes in midfield, confirmed Howe, ahead of the weekend trip to South Yorkshire. “Apart from that, we are pretty good.

“We hope with Joelinton he could be back sooner, but with Willock, he will be out until the international break.”

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Newcastle’s squad returned from their midweek trip to the San Siro without any new injury issues, but Howe will still have to be mindful of the hectic forthcoming fixture list as he ponders his starting line-up to face Sheffield United.

Tuesday’s Champions League outing in Milan sparked a run of three successive weeks in which Newcastle have midweek matches, and Howe has not been able to put his players through a full training session since they returned from Italy.

There are options to rotate within his squad, with the likes of Harvey Barnes, Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson having started on the bench in the San Siro, but Howe does not want to be making wholesale changes with his side having picked up a win and a draw from their last two games.

“We are going to have to rotate the squad,” said the Magpies boss. “If we can help it, we don’t want to make wholesale changes to the team in any one game. I don’t think that will do our rhythm any good.

“There will be tweaks as we’re going along, hopefully then the team will be unaffected but we manage to keep everyone fresh.”

One change that is anticipated on Sunday is the return of Wilson to the starting line-up in place of Alexander Isak. The training load of both players is being managed carefully at the moment, with Newcastle’s medical staff doing all they can to ensure Wilson remains injury-free.

“With Callum, we always have to manage his load,” said Howe. “That doesn’t change with Callum. Whether it’s a one-game week or a three-game week, we have to monitor his training and give ourselves the best chance we have with him of him staying with us through the season. So, that’s what we will do.”

Newcastle (probable, 4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Guimaraes, Longstaff, Tonali; Almiron, Wilson, Gordon.