Toon Birthday Boy Could See Action In Russia!

Hatem Ben Arfa will celebrate his birthday in Moscow and is hoping his 26th will see a start against Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday night.

If he plays it will be his first appearance of 2013.

During his time on Tyneside he has just played in one-third of United's matches.

Alan Pardew: “I think he has got a chance.

"We wanted to put some work into him. He’s a little bit short, so whether he gets 20 or 30 minutes towards the end of that game, I don’t know.

“That’s probably the most he could get.

“We’ll see how he shapes up. He worked all weekend – hopefully, we’ll get him even closer.

“We want to win the game, so I’ll play the strongest team I can.

“It’s a different surface, and it’s going to favour some of our technical players. It’ll be a very technical team that I put out.”

Source: Newcastle United Mad