Newcastle are set to be without Yoane Wissa for this weekend’s Premier League clash against Manchester City.
Wissa has not featured for Newcastle since the 3-2 home defeat to former club Brentford earlier in the month.
He was an unused substitute for the win over Tottenham but missed out on matchday squads against Aston Villa and Qarabag in the FA Cup and Champions League respectively.
Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to the Etihad Stadium, Howe revealed that the Man City game will come too early for Wissa’s return to action.
"No, I don't think he will be,” Howe said during the pre-match press conference on Friday. “He won't be too far off the Qarabag game.
"It (injury) was in training, a nasty knock. But I think it will be fine."
In addition to Wissa, defender Tino Livramento, captain Bruno Guimaraes and youngster Lewis Miley have also been ruled out, thus joining Emil Krafth and Fabian Schar on the sidelines.
"Tino’s making good progress, but I still don’t think we’re going to shave much time off the early March date that was set for him,” Howe added.
"There’s no massive updates on Bruno, he’s in Brazil and judging by a couple of pictures I’ve seen, he’s enjoying himself!
"That’s typical Bruno – seeing him watching the game did make me laugh because his passion and love for the team was shining through. We wish him well from afar."
The good news for Newcastle, however, is that central defender Sven Botman is on course to be available for selection against Man City after missing the last two games with a lower back problem.
"Hopefully, good news for Sven Botman, he could be involved in and around this game,” Howe said.
Newcastle are bidding to record a Premier League double over Man City having won the reverse fixture at St James’ Park earlier in the season thanks to a brace from Harvey Barnes.
Although, the Magpies have not won at the Etihad Stadium since October 2014 and were beaten there just under three weeks ago in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.
