Get the latest NUFC transfer and takeover news straight to your inbox for FREE by signing up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Jonjo Shelvey still has 'lumps' in his leg but has vowed to keep training and playing for Newcastle United by having 'painful' shockwave treatment twice a day.

The 27-year-old suffered a thigh injury back in the summer of 2018 and had pain-killing injections to get through games until it just got too much last season.

Shelvey had to take a step back from training with his team-mates to let the thigh heal - visiting a specialist in Barcelona on a number of occasions with team physio Sean Beech - and spent an extended period of time working in the gym.

The playmaker was determined to win his place back last summer by returning to pre-season training in May and even jetted off to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp.

Shelvey felt his thigh again at Norwich in August and was sent to a surgeon because it was 'so painful'. The midfielder has now taken to having shockwave therapy in the morning and after training as a last resort, and it seems to be doing the trick.

"I've still got the lumps in my leg but while it's still fine, I'm going to keep training and keep playing," he said in an interview with the club's programme ahead of scoring a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw against Man City.

"I think it's used to treat kidney stones or something like that. It's like a gun that goes onto your leg. It's painful when being done. You have to just grin and bear it, I suppose."

Shelvey, who has stepped up as the Magpies' stand-in skipper in Jamaal Lascelles' absence, has started the last four games and is the club's top scorer this season with three goals.

As well as bringing something a little different with his passing and set-piece delivery, Shelvey has impressed staff with his work-rate and his physical stats - which is something he has worked on.

"I'm quite a laid-back character and on the pitch I'm quite casual with the ball because I've got confidence in my ability," he added. "I think it's just my body language. You try and work on it but you are what you are at the end of the day.

"If people don't like it, that's their problem. As long as the gaffer knows - he looks at the stats and sees that I'm running and putting it in - then that's all that matters to me.

"I don't really listen to what other people are saying outside. I feel in a good place, to be honest. I'm fit and in terms of ability on the ball, I know that I'm up there in the squad - I can make things happen. I can make chances for the strikers. I can set people away. But, obviously, people are looking at the other side of the game with me."