Newcastle United Football Club News

• Nickname:Magpies
• Founded:1881
• Manager:Alan Pardew

• Ground:St James' Park
• Capacity:52,193

Roeder backs Martins

11 Sep 2006 - 14:03:42

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Newcastle United boss Glenn Roeder has admitted that it might take recent signing Obafemi Martins some time to adapt to life in the Premiership.

The Nigeria international failed to impress as United crashed to a shock 2-1 home defeat to a Fulham side that struggled on their travels last term.

"There are a couple of things we have to take into consideration," said Roeder. "He's trying to regain full physical fitness from when he arrived from Italy having been unwell for two weeks with flu.

"I never expected him to get through 90 minutes - I always thought he would do well to last 70 minutes or so. He's come from Serie A. We've got to be patient.

"It'll take him a little bit of time to settle into the high tempo of the Premiership, but I saw enough promise from him that when he plays with Shola Ameobi, there's going to be a successful partnership there."

Meanwhile, Roeder thinks Scott Parker may be fit enough to play against FC Levadia Tallinn in Thursday's UEFA Cup clash between the two sides.

The former Chelsea and Charlton Athletic midfielder injured his knee on Saturday but the Magpies boss added: "Scott will be okay in a few days and he's got a chance of playing on Thursday night in Tallinn.

"If not, he'll be okay for West Ham next Sunday because he'll be desperate to play in that one."