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• Founded:1892
• Manager:Alan Pardew

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Ben Arfa happy with his fitness levels

03 Sep 2010 - 13:24:40

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Hatem Ben Arfa is confident he will be ready to make his first-team debut next weekend when Newcastle United face Blackpool at St James' Park.

It had been feared that the 23-year-old would take several weeks to regain full fitness after the long-running saga of his transfer to Tyneside from Marseille.

Ben Arfa last played football almost four weeks ago, but said: "It's a relief that I am here. I am very disciplined in my training, despite what was said.

"I wasn't training with Marseille but I hired a personal fitness trainer to make sure I didn't fall behind. I worked really, really hard to keep a level of fitness up.

"The coaches at Newcastle have all been impressed by my level of fitness and have had no questions about it.

"I am excited by the prospect of running out in front of these fans - I want to give everything I can for them.

"I have a lot of confidence in the people I have seen on the training field so far. After training and seeing the skills of the players in the last week or so, I feel even more confident that the team can achieve success than I did before."