Targett was forced off in the opening minute of the 3-0 Carabao Cup win against Manchester United while Burn was withdrawn at half-time after falling awkwardly on his back in the 1-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday

Howe said after the Arsenal win that it was too soon to give a proper assessment on Burn’s injury, but shed more light on the situation ahead of the Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night (5:45pm kick-off).

“Unfortunately, Dan will be out for some time I think, It’s another long-term problem, a couple of months,” said Howe at the Signal Iduna Park. “It’s a speculative number for us. He landed on his spine, there’s a problem with the base of his spine

“He’s been gigantic for us since he signed for lots of different reasons. His character, determination to win, experience and versatility as well. It’s not just one position we’re losing, we’re losing his ability to play centre-back. It’s something we have to roll with.”

Targett went for a scan on his hamstring on Friday and will now see a specialist for a further diagnosis. But once again, it’s a long-term injury for the Magpies as the club’s injury list continues to grow.

“We don’t know 100 per-cent,” Howe added. “I think he’s seeing a specialist tonight before we get clearer info

“It’s not going to be a short-term fix for Matt, he’ll be out for, I’d probably say around three months but that’s a rough estimate.

“It’ll be around that figure regardless of whether he has surgery or not.”

Howe also said he would be naming a number of young players on the bench for the Dortmund match with Lewis Miley, Lucas De Bolle and Ben Parkinson all spotted travelling with the side to Germany on Monday.

The Magpies will be without 12 senior players in total heading into the group stage match.

“Physically I think we’ll be fine,” Howe admitted despite his side’s injury situation. “We haven’t done any training. We have prepared for the game tactically.”