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Jesus Gamez has been ruled out of Newcastle’s third round EFL Cup tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers due to a calf injury.

The 31-year-old’s United career has proved to be a disappointment so far with the former Atletico Madrid man restricted to just two appearances following a high-profile move from La Liga in the summer.

Gamez had fans excited after a promising display against Cheltenham Town in the last round of the competition, but has failed to start a game since.

It means that only three players will be unavailable because of injuries ahead of the encounter with Wolves, and Rafa Benitez explained: “We still have Rob Elliot, Rolando Aarons and Jesus Gamez out.

“Jesus has an issue with his calf.

“We have to keep treating him for a few days and see how he reacts.”

(Image: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Benitez will make changes to the team that lost to Wolves on Saturday but isn’t concerned about the condition of the players that will come in.

Indeed, many of them have been used as part of his squad rotation and he said: “I am really pleased with them in training sessions but it hasn’t been the same during the games.

“Hopefully they can do the same.

“It’s like before, they now have the opportunity to show the level we have. It’s a good level.

“We have to help them and make sure we have players around that can do well.

“Sometimes when you change too many players it raises eyebrows.

“But in our case, the majority of them are playing games anyway.

“It’s not like we have players who have gone months without playing.

“Maybe one or two will get the chance to shine.”