EDDIE HOWE revealed Kieran Trippier’s scan showed his foot injury is not healing as quickly as hoped.
But the Newcastle boss still expects the England man to return this term.
Trippier, 31, broke his fifth metatarsal in his left foot in February’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa.
The £12million January signing later revealed he may have even scored the winner that day with the injury.
He had a scan on Friday and while the results show the problem is improving, his recovery will not be quite as quick as Toon were hoping.
Speaking after the 5-1 defeat at Tottenham, Howe said: “His injury is healing.
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It’s not totally healed. That’s where it is.
“We’ll be able to start pushing him, not as quickly as we initially wanted to.
“But I still think he will play this season, but with no definite date. He’s making good progress.”
Reflecting on the Spurs result, Howe is confident that it will not damage morale within the squad.
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He said: “I don’t think it will. In hindsight, we might look back on this as a good thing. It might realign our thoughts and get us back to the basics.
“We’re still in a huge fight to stay in the division. That’s six away games in seven. Now we return home and they’ll be massive games.
“After a second half like that you want to play again very quickly. I want to put the memory of this game away.”
