The 21-year-old, who recently admitted he was unhappy at his game time before Gary O’Neil publicly insisted he is in his plans, has had surgery on the ongoing issue.

He is expected to be out for around ‘eight to 12 weeks’, in another injury blow after Hodge’s hamstring strain earlier in the season.

“Hodgey has had surgery on his shoulder,” O’Neil said.

“It’s been bothering him for a long; we took the chance to correct the problem when it kept popping out too frequently during the last few weeks of training.

“Perhaps that puts him in a marginally better position. He will be absent for some time.”

“I can give you a rough guide from my limited knowledge on shoulder surgeries and I would guess somewhere from eight and 12 weeks,” O’Neil said in response to a question about when Hodge might return.

“But it’s still early; he had it completed just a day or two ago. Seeing him this morning was pleasant, and he seems to be feeling better now that the issue had been resolved. We’re hoping to have him back as soon as possible.”

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, meanwhile, might make a comeback against Newcastle tomorrow after suffering a minor calf strain.

Bellegarde is doing okay; we’ll have to see how he is in the morning, but maybe he can be involved,” O’Neil stated. He hasn’t trained for the entire week, so he’s unlikely to do all 90.”