MARK GILLESPIE is on standby to make his Premier League debut when Newcastle United travel to Wolves on Sunday, with Karl Darlow having joined Martin Dubravka on the Magpies’ list of injured goalkeepers.

Darlow endured a mixed evening as the Magpies lost 4-1 at home to Manchester United on Saturday night, with his string of fine saves being capped by a superb penalty stop from Bruno Fernandes.

However, he finished the game barely able to walk after suffering a leg injury during a second-half collision with Marcus Rashford. Darlow raced off his line to block Rashford’s shot, not knowing the Manchester United striker was in an offside position, and was in immediate discomfort after the pair made contact.

He was able to complete the game after two separate bouts of treatment, but is set to have a scan later today to ascertain the full extent of the problem.

With Martin Dubravka having suffered a setback to his own recovery from injury, Newcastle’s goalkeeping resources are already stretched. If Darlow is unavailable for the trip to Molineux, Gillespie, a summer free signing following his release from Motherwell, will have to come in for his first Premier League appearance, with untried youngster Will Brown likely to step up to the substitutes’ bench.

“He’s taken a hell of a blow,” confirmed Bruce, in the wake of Saturday’s defeat. “We hope that he’s not too bad, but it’s one of those difficult ones to assess straight away.

“I wonder if the linesman had flagged earlier (for offside), rather than waiting for it with that ridiculous rule, then who knows, it might have been averted. Until we see the scans and how he is, then we won’t really know, but it’s fair to say that he’s very sore.”

On a bad night for Newcastle on a number of different scores, Bruce also watched Isaac Hayden hobble off at the start of the second half after damaging his hamstring.

The midfielder was unable to continue after sustaining the problem towards the end of the first half, and is now set to spend up to a month on the sidelines.

“Isaac nicked his hamstring in the first half,” said Bruce. “It was just before half-time, but we thought he was going to be okay for the second half, Obviously, clearly, he wasn’t.”

Hayden’s absence could result in a tactical reshuffle against Wolves, with Miguel Almiron and Ryan Fraser pushing hard for a start.

“The one thing we’ve got is that alternative,” he said. “That’s always going to be the debate now. Thankfully, we’re in a good position in that area.”