Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes out for weeks rather than months with ankle injury

Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes will be sidelined for a matter of weeks rather than months after a scan on his injured ankle revealed no serious damage.

There were fears the Brazilian could have suffered torn ligaments during Sunday’s 1-0 win over Fulham when boss Eddie Howe said afterwards that the player was still in some distress, adding 'that is never a good sign'.

The 25-year-old left the field in tears at half-time after rolling his ankle and playing on for 25 minutes. Howe later admitted he perhaps should have made the substitution before the interval.

Guimaraes was sent for a scan on Monday and Sportsmail can reveal that the results are positive. We understand he is looking at a period of at least a week - or weeks - in the treatment room, but not much longer.

That could still mean he misses both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Southampton - scheduled for January 24 and 31 - but Newcastle will know more in the coming days. Guimaraes has been central to the team’s rise to third in the Premier League and Howe is sure to be relieved that the news on the injury is not too serious.

However, his likely absence at Crystal Palace this weekend will highlight just how thin Newcastle are on midfield numbers. Jonjo Shelvey is facing another month out with a calf injury, leaving only Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Joelinton available.

Howe plays with three in the middle of the park and, with Joelinton currently performing so well on the left-wing, it leaves the head coach with a choice as to whether to change formation or shuffle around personnel. Allan Saint-Maximin could be restored to the wide area and Joelinton moved back to midfield.

Howe will also likely be strengthening his case for midfield reinforcement in the transfer market. He likes players with Premier League pedigree and Leicester’s Youri Tielemans, Ruben Neves of Wolves, Manchester United’s Scott McTominay and Chelsea pair Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have all been discussed.

The club’s British-based owners have good links to Chelsea and are monitoring the situation at Stamford Bridge, given their excess of senior players.

However, the majority of those names would not be easy deals to do in January. Wolves and United want to keep Neves and McTominay respectively beyond this month, while Gallagher would prefer to stay at Chelsea.

Tielemans is out of contract this summer but Leicester's loss of form means they are likely to need him in a relegation fight.