Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce fears two of his players are suffering from long-term Covid-19.
Bruce has revealed two unnamed members of his squad will not be available for Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham after testing positive for coronavirus, and could be missing for several more weeks.
He said: 'You accept injuries, but a virus like this is obviously new to everybody. I've seen the effect now it has on extremely fit, young professional footballers and the effect it's had on them, and two of them in particular.
'Yes, we're at a disadvantage and we hope, for my sake as well as the players', they do recover properly and give them time to recover because it's the welfare of them and their long-term health.