And the Magpies manager is also resigned to being without Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schar for Saturday’s trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United.
Tonali injured his shoulder in the second half of tonight’s loss at St James’ Park, and while he initially tried to continue, the Italian midfielder was forced to admit defeat as he was substituted in the 66th minute. He will have a scan tomorrow amid fears that he could have suffered a dislocation.
Joelinton will have a scan on his groin after he was also forced off in the second half of tonight’s game. The Brazilian was in obvious discomfort as he stretched to try to win a tackle, with his team-mate, Bruno Guimaraes, immediately signalling to the bench that he would have to be replaced.
Neither Tonali nor Joelinton look likely to be involved in Saturday’s game with Leeds, with Gordon and Schar also set to miss out.
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Gordon will have to serve an automatic three-match ban after he was sent off for serious foul play after lunging into Virgil van Dijk, meaning he will miss the game at Leeds as well as the matches against Wolves and Bournemouth that follow the international break.
Schar suffered a concussion after a clash of heads with van Dijk in the second half, meaning he will have to follow concussion protocols that will almost certainly prevent him from playing against Leeds.
“I don’t know quite how bad they are,” said Howe. “But they’re genuine injuries and the players had to come off in the middle of the game, and that’s a huge blow to us.
“Joey doesn’t look great to be honest, especially when the signal was so early \[for him to come off\] when he went down.
“Sandro, again, it doesn’t look good. He couldn’t move his arm. He said he wanted to stay on, but it wasn’t functioning properly.
“We obviously also lose Anthony through suspension and Fabian through concussion.”