DeAndre Yedlin's future at Newcastle is shrouded in doubt after manager Steve Bruce revealed there was a "visa issue" that prevented him from being involved against Aston Villa.
The news comes after the USA international spoke out last week about the club stalling on talks over a new deal.
The 27-year-old right-back will be out of contract in the summer and it seems now faces an uncertain future.
Asked about Yedlin's absence from the 2-0 Premier League defeat at Villa Park, Bruce said afterwards: "There's an issue with his visa.
"I'm not sure quite how quickly it will be resolved, but there's certainly an issue there. We'll let you know when he's available."
Defeat on Saturday night continued Newcastle's dismal run. The Magpies have scored only one goal in the last eight matches and have lost six of their last eight Premier League games, including the last four in a row.
It has been reported that Bruce wants to bring in another coach to work alongside assistants and Stephen Clemence and Steve Agnew to try to arrest the current slump, with Graeme Jones at Bournemouth heavily linked.
Bruce was also asked about the possibility of bringing in Jones, he replied: "I can't comment on that. I've just finished a game and there's no comment."
When asked if he and his back-room team need some help on the coaching side, Bruce said: "I am more concentrated on what we've seen.
"What encouraged me was to see Ryan (Fraser) and Allan (Saint-Maximin) on the pitch because, straightaway, we looked more of a threat."
Villa climbed up to eighth in the table after a return to winning ways, following a tough run of fixtures against Chelsea and both Manchester clubs.
Bertrand Traore scored for the fourth time in six Premier League matches and Villa boss Dean Smith praised the 25-year-old summer signing for the increased influence he is having on games.
"He does (keep having more influence). He's making a really good contribution to the team at the moment," said Smith.
"We feel that we've got some really good attacking players. We brought him in for the quality he's got but I suppose it always takes a while to settle when you come from abroad like he has.
"He's settled in really quickly to be fair to him and he's getting the rewards of the work he's putting in. I always knew he had the qualities and the skills but it's his work rate without the ball that's really impressed me.
"He's a very good player and it's been tough to leave Anwar (El Ghazi) out because he was up for player of the month for December."
