Joe Willock and Lewis Miley are unlikely to figure for Newcastle again this season after having to admit defeat in their efforts to play roles in the club’s battle for European qualification.
Willock, 24, has been battling an Achilles injury for much of the campaign after working his way back from a hamstring problem, while 17-year-old Miley has been out of action with a lower back issue.
As he prepared his players for Wednesday night's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace, head coach Eddie Howe admitted both midfielders have probably made their last appearance of the campaign.
Asked if Willock could return, Howe said: "No, we don't think so.
"With Joe, we all have decided – the medical team, Joe – that a period where he strengthens the area around his Achilles would benefit him more, so he went to see a specialist, and they said, 'Look, you've got a couple of options here'.
"He could have carried on playing, but I think the longer-term view was taken, 'Let's get him right for next season', so that's what everyone is working towards."
Willock, who joined the Magpies in a £25million switch from Arsenal during the summer of 2021 following a hugely impressive loan spell, has made only 14 appearances during the current campaign.
Howe, who revealed the player does not need surgery, said: "He's desperate to play, but most importantly desperate to go into games feeling good with his body, and that's the challenge for any player.
"The game is hard enough, the level is so high that if you're not 100 per cent, the game usually finds a way to catch you out and I think Joe's just been frustrated that he's not felt his normal self when he's played."
Teenager Miley was thrust into the limelight in the midst of an early-season injury crisis and boasts Champions League starts against Paris St Germain and AC Milan among his achievements to date.
Howe said: "The decision made on him again was to look at his long-term future and try to protect him, so we won't see Lewie again this season.
"He's done brilliantly this season, but I think with the back problem that he has, rest is probably the right way for us to go and even if there was a chance – and there possibly was if we pushed him to come back – we took that away very early with his age and thinking about his long-term prospects."
