Newcastle's high-flying A-League campaign has suffered a huge blow with striker Roy O'Donovan sidelined for three months with a groin tear.
The Irishman sustained the injury late in Saturday's 2-1 win over Perth, his first match back from another groin problem.
Jets coach Ernie Merrick insisted the two injuries are unrelated, but will now have to navigate the majority of the regular season without his star marskman.
The Irishman joins Venezuelan attacker Ronald Vargas, defender Daniel Georgievski and goalkeeper Jack Duncan on Newcastle's injury list.
"Roy had worked extremely hard to get himself right and our physio, specialist and myself were comfortable with him taking part in the game," Merrick said.
"We were actually taking a cautious approach by having Roy return via the bench but there was nothing we could do to avoid this one.
"At this stage, we won't get drawn into any timelines for recovery, but we'll monitor Roy's progress closely and hopefully we can see him back for the final rounds of the regular season."
The club said Vargas, who suffered a horrible leg break in October, is recovering well and had his moon boot removed last week.
