Five players, including new signings Achraf Lazaar, Mohamed Diame and Christian Atsu will be unavailable for up to five Championship matches.
Newcastle United could be without five key players during the busy winter schedule as the final 16 teams for the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon were confirmed.
The teams are: Gabon, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
The tournament, held every two years, will take place between January 14 and February 5 next year, meaning certain players could miss up to five league matches as well as any potential cup ties, including the EFL Cup semi-final.
And for United, those players are Achraf Lazaar (Morocco), Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo), Cheick Tiote (Ivory Coast), Christian Atsu (Ghana) and Mohamed Diame (Senegal).
During the tournament Newcastle have important away trips to Brentford and Brighton as well as home matches against Rotherham United, QPR and Derby County in the Championship.
With 15 points to play for, manager Rafa Benitez would like his squad as strong as possible for what could prove to be a decisive period of the season.
Fortunately the Spaniard has invested heavily in his squad over the summer so the African players, who could make up almost half of a Magpies’ starting line-up, should not be too sorely missed.
Diame and Mbemba are the only two of the five to have played any minutes for Newcastle so far this season as the club currently sit fourth in the Championship table having won three consecutive league matches.
Where they will be in the table come January remains to be seen, although Geordie fans will be hoping that next year’s AFCON doesn’t hit the squad too hard.
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