Newcastle boss Steve Bruce admits he ‘fears the worst’ for Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin

Frustrated Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has admitted he ‘fears the worst’ after key duo Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin both departed injured during the 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Wolves.

Paraguay international Almiron did not return for the second half after picking up a muscular problem, and playmaker Saint-Maximin was also forced off during the second half.

Bruce would not be drawn on the severity of the pair’s issues, telling Sky Sports: ‘It’s too early [to say] but for someone like Micky [Almiron] to come off and be in the state he’s in, we fear the worst.

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce (centre) consoled Miguel Almiron (right) as he departed injured

Almiron appeared to have a muscular problem around his knee in the 1-1 draw against Wolves

‘We could do with a little bit more luck in the injury situation we’re picking up, but we have to get on with it.

‘For the first half an hour, until unfortunately Micky [Almiron] picked up his injury, we were excellent.

‘We have created two, three, four big opportunities and at this level, to be brutally honest, you have to take them. We’re a bit disappointed with that and, of course, the injuries again have disrupted us badly.’

Fellow creative midfielder Allan Saint-Maximin also slumped to the turf with an injury problem

Bruce admitted that he did not feel hopeful of positive news about Saint-Maximin and Almiron

Newcastle had 19 shots on goal and went ahead through Jamaal Lascelles seven minutes after the break, only for Ruben Neves’ header to deny them a potentially vital win with under 20 minutes to go.

‘That’s why, usually, [goal scorers] cost the most money,’ said Bruce. ‘That little bit of calm to stick it in the net.

‘We’ve had enough chances – big chances, especially in the first half – to get a couple of goals and unfortunately we didn’t take them.

Almiron was one of the players to threaten in a bright opening period for struggling Newcastle

Unfortunately we’ve given a poor goal away. People like to be disappointed but there are, again, a lot of positives that we can take out of it, especially the first half an hour.’

A third successive defeat and a fourth loss in five matches left Newcastle four points above third-bottom Fulham, who have a game in hand over the struggling Magpies.

Bruce said: ‘A point’s a point – who knows what it is? A point could be enough but we’ll have to wait and see. They’re frustrated because they played very, very well.’