Newcastle were today hit with the news that Jonjo Shelvey would serve a five match suspension as a result of a racial abuse incident in the Wolves game in September.

Shelvey has also been slapped with a £100,000 fine and he will miss the crucial festive period for The Magpies and leave Rafa Benitez with a midfield conundrum.

Shelvey has been such an influential player in the Newcastle midfield and he will be a huge loss for them, but hopefully for The Magpies, they don't slip up in his absence.

Centre midfield is arguably Newcastle's weakest area on the pitch behind Shelvey, so Benitez may look to bring someone in early on in the January window to deputise for Shelvey, and then maybe play alongside him.

Newcastle will have expected the news of Shelvey to get a ban, but that doesn't make the news any easier for the Geordie faithful to take.

Here's how the Newcastle fans reacted to the news on twitter...