The Magpies’ defence of their Carabao Cup crown suffered a major setback this evening as they suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the first leg of the semi-final.

Howe once again Lewis Miley as a stand-in right-back, with Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall making up the back four.

Kieran Trippier, who was a second-half substitute, is the only other defender currently available, with scans having revealed that Tino Livramento is facing a two-month lay-off as a result of the hamstring injury he sustained in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round win over Bournemouth.

Recalling Matt Targett from his loan spell at Middlesbrough is one potential move currently being considered, but while Dan Burn should be available before the end of the month, Howe and the rest of the recruitment team are urgently assessing their transfer options for the remainder of the January window.

“Tino is information where we only got confirmation this morning, so we need to digest that and see what we do,” said Howe.

“It's not the situation we want to be in. We've tried to rotate healthily this season in terms of...