Newcastle United defender Jamal Lewis has suffered another knee injury which will keep him out of international duty for Northern Ireland in the coming days. The left-back has struggled for fitness, and subsequently consistency, since Eddie Howe's arrival on Tyneside and this latest setback will do little to shore up his Magpies future.
Lewis was due to link up with Michael O'Neill and his Northern Ireland team-mates this week as they prepare to take on Denmark and Kazakhstan. Instead, it looks like another spell on the sidelines for the former Norwich man.
"Unfortunately Jamal aggravated a knee injury earlier this week so is not with us," national team boss O'Neill said this week. "Naturally with Shane Ferguson out as well, probably our two most prominent left-sided players are unavailable, but we have worked very hard in training. We had three really good days back in Belfast and we think we have found a way to accommodate for that."
