Newcastle’s Cheik Tiote set to miss rest of the season

The midfielder picked up the injury when representing the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations last month.

Tiote has now undergone an operation in the Middle East, and the 28-year-old is not expected to return before the season is out.

Newcastle head coach John Carver said: “Cheik had the operation on Sunday.

“Communication is not great at the minute, so we are trying to get more and more, but I think he’ll stay there for a while.

“He’s in Qatar and I think he’s there because the surgeon who did his operation from Belgium on his thigh when he was at FC Twente is there.

“He’s the guy who did the operation, so he is going to stay out there for a little bit of recovery time and then come back.”

When asked if he expected Tiote to miss the rest of the season, Carver added: “I would have thought so, yes.”