Source: Northern_Echo
Carroll and Smith suffer injury blows
ANDY Carroll has been ruled out of Saturday's Premier League home game with Tottenham, and Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has suffered a double injury blow after conceding that Alan Smith's ankle injury is likely to keep him sidelined for up to two months.[LNB] Carroll's thigh continues to trouble him, and having already missed Newcastle's last four matches, the striker will not be involved when Spurs visit St James' Park this weekend.[LNB] However, with a gap of four days to the Magpies next match - an away game at Fulham on February 2 - the club's medical staff are hoping the England international will be available for the trip to Craven Cottage.[LNB] Carroll spent a week in Dubai recuperating ahead of last weekend's Wear-Tyne derby with Sunderland, but the break did not have the desired effect and he has received more treatment this week.[LNB] Pardew received an update on his fitness yesterday, and has already decided he will play no part in this weekend's game. As a result, Leon Best and Shola Ameobi are likely to line up alongside each other for the second game in a row.[LNB] Alan Smith will not be in the starting line-up, and having injured his ankle in the first half of Sunday's 1-1 draw on Wearside, the veteran midfielder travelled to London yesterday for a series of scans.[LNB] Smith left the Stadium of Light on crutches, with his ankle in a light cast for support, but it has not been possible to assess the full extent of the damage until the swelling has receded.[LNB] The results of yesterday's scans should be available today, and Newcastle officials are bracing themselves for bad news.[LNB] Smith appears to have suffered damage to his ankle ligaments, a prognosis that could rule him out of action for up to two months.[LNB] "We'll have to wait and see, but it looks like he could be out for six to eight weeks," conceded Pardew.[LNB] Smith's absence reduces Newcastle's midfield options for the weekend, but having introduced Danny Guthrie as a first-half substitute at the Stadium of Light, Pardew is happy to stick with the 23-year-old against Tottenham.[LNB] "Danny Guthrie will play," he said. "He was excellent in the second half at Sunderland, and I hope he will take it into Saturday."[LNB] * Sammy Ameobi and Brad Inman were on target yesterday afternoon as a[LNB] youthful Newcastle development side beat Celtic 2-1 in a behind-closed-doors[LNB] game.[LNB] Academy players Ben Sayer, Michael Riley and Ryan McCorrigan were involved[LNB] as the Magpies took on a Celtic side featuring former Sunderland striker[LNB] Daryl Murphy and Northern Ireland international Niall McGinn.[LNB] * Former Newcastle boss Ruud Gullit has been appointed as the new manager of Russian Premier League team Terek Grozny, based in Chechnya.[LNB]
