Newcastle United defender ruled out for 'a couple of months'

Less than a fortnight after Sven Botman underwent ACL surgery, Lascelles sustained the same injury during the opening stages of the Magpies’ 4-3 win over West Ham United on March 30.

Ten months on and Sven Botman is back playing having starred in away wins at Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal this week. Lascelles, however, isn’t expected to return until March. By that point, he will have been on the sidelines for a year.

"He is still working his way back,” Howe told reporters ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third round clash with Bromley. “He is a little bit delayed from Sven's time. Every player is different, and every player responds differently to the operation and the stresses that you need to go through.

"He is making good progress and he has been the absolute model professional in terms of what he is being asked to do and how he is conducting himself. Without putting a definitive timeline on it, he is going to be a couple of months away."

Howe revealed last month that Lascelles has shown an enormous amount of dedication during his recovery, “sometimes he’s been here [at the training ground] to 5pm-6pm at night, and that’s on a regular basis,” said the United boss.

Speaking about his recovery late last year, Lascelles said: “Obviously, it is tough - mentally just as much as physically - but fortunately for me, I enjoy working out and going in the gym. I spend half my day in there, but it's something I like doing.

“To other players who don't, it would probably be a lot more difficult but I quite enjoy the challenge, setting myself weekly goals and monthly goals, hitting them and then moving on to the next one I still try and do what I can around the group, even though I'm not out on the pitch. It's great when we’re in the gym at the same time and the boys have been fantastic and really supportive.”

As it stands, the 31-year-old is out of contract in the summer. He has made 251 appearances since arriving from Nottingham Forest 10 years ago.