Hughton keen to bring two strikers in after Shola blow

16 September 2009 10:43
CHRIS HUGHTON hopes to bring both Diomansy Kamara and Marlon Harewood to St James’ Park after learning Shola Ameobi will be out of action until December. With Ameobi sidelined with a stress fracture of the foot, Hughton takes his Magpies side to Blackpool tonight with Nile Ranger his only fully fit recognised striker. Newcastle do have Andy Carroll available for selection again, although he has not played since the groin injury sustained in the win over Sheffield Wednesday on August 19. But it is confirmation that leading scorer Ameobi will be missing for more than two months that has increased Hughton’s determination to add at least one new forward to his ranks. Ameobi has not figured since the 4-3 win over Huddersfield in late August and his injury arrived at a time when the indications were that he would spearhead the Magpies’ promotion charge. After years of injury torment and playing back-up to more illustrious names, Ameobi started the season with five goals in as many matches before personal disaster struck. “Shola is looking like months rather than weeks now. It will hopefully be less than three months, but we’re looking at two months at least,” said Hughton, who is without the suspended Alan Smith tonight. “It’s a massive blow because of his goals and the influence he had on the team. “He is upset. For Shola and the period of time he’s been here, it’s been well documented there have been highs and lows, this season was a particular high for him. The crowd have very much responded to him and what he has done in the early part of this season. It’s a massive blow for him.” Hughton dismissed any claims the ongoing Premier League Arbitration Tribunal that will rule on Kevin Keegan’s claim for constructive dismissal is preventing him from making new signings. The Tribunal heads into a third day today, with yesterday passing without a resolution. Instead the caretaker manager confirmed he is looking to bring in both Kamara and Harewood, who have fallen out of favour at Fulham and Aston Villa respectively. “With us it’s identifying players we’d like to bring in, in the areas we want to strengthen and working towards that,” said Hughton. “Up until now that hasn’t happened, but I fully expect we’ll be bringing in a couple of players in the very immediate future.” He added: “Diomansy Kamara is one of numerous names we have thought about. He scored a lot of goals for West Brom in this division and he is a very good player. He is one of a few names we have looked into. “Marlon Harewood is another one. All I can say is that these two are very much being spoken about. No deals are confirmed at the moment though.” There has also been apparent interest shown in Hull pair Daniel Cousin and Caleb Folan, but Hughton has turned his attention towards focusing his players on maintaining their impressive start to the season. Newcastle are at Bloomfield Road tonight looking to consolidate their position as one of the early Championship pacesetters against a Blackpool team unbeaten at home. A clean sheet for Steve Harper would equal a 27-yearold club record of six consecutive league clean sheets held by former Gallowgate goalkeeper Kevin Carr. “The run of clean sheets is a sign of how united we are, both as a team and as a coaching staff. There’s a lot of hard work gone in behind the scenes, and the likes of Chris and Colin Calderwood deserve medals for what they’re putting up with,” said Harper. “The clean sheets are definitely adding to the confidence, and the longer we can keep this run going, the better. Everybody is working really hard and, at the moment, we’re hard to beat. “Results breed confidence and it’s about keeping this run going, but we know how tough Blackpool will be on Wednesday. When you come to places like that, you’re often at your most vulnerable when you score a goal.” Newcastle (probable): Harper; Simpson, S Taylor, Coloccini, Enrique; R Taylor, Nolan, Butt, Barton; Guthrie; Ranger.

Source: Northern_Echo