Newcastle United's worst fears have been confirmed following the early substitution of Dwight Gayle in Monday's match against Aston Villa.

The Championship's top goalscorer has suffered from a recurring hamstring injury which previously kept him out for around a month and the club have confirmed that the striker's problem will keep him out for another month.

Toon facing five games without Gayle

That means that the earliest game that he could return for would be Birmingham City.

During the game against Villa, Gayle left the pitch near the 35-minute mark in apparent distress. While manager Rafael Benitez initially said it was nothing to worry about, it seems like the injury is repeating itself.

Gayle's hamstring woes began on January 14 when he was taken off against Brentford. As a result, the striker missed six matches and history seems to be repeating himself as the club predict that their target man will not be available for a further five games at least.

Time to panic?

While it is not ideal, the past month has seen the Magpies struggle to score as much as they were previously, it is not time for Benitez to panic.

There are other options, albeit it if they have not displayed the same kind of scoring pedigrees.

In Aleksandar Mitrovic there is a striker that can hold up a line effectively, and once he has bustled his way into the box, he can respond well to the service that Matt Ritchie and Jonjo Shelvey provide. Speaking of Ritchie, the Scottish international has scored four times since January 21.

Also up front, Daryl Murphy has proven that he can be dynamic - in a different way to Mitrovic. But it is not just players in attacking positions that have found the back of the net.

Defenders such as Ciaran Clark, DeAndre Yedlin and even captain Jamaal Lascelles have been able to work themselves into good goalscoring positions on multiple occasions recently, with the skipper recently finding the net to salvage a point against Norwich City.

Additionally, it is not just goals that count. The Toon have been working to reduce the amount that they concede and that seems to be benefiting them as they have managed four clean sheets since the Brentford match that left Gayle on the sidelines.

While it may be a slog for the duration of Gayle's absence, with diminished returns on scoring, it does not necessarily mean that Newcastle's title bid is going to crumble.