Magpies optimistic over duo

Newcastle are confident Steven Taylor and Sebastien Bassong will be fit enough to face Chelsea a week on Saturday. The defensive duo limped out of last weekend's 3-1 defeat against Arsenal with ankle and groin injuries respectively.The double blow came as a massive setback to the Magpies at a crucial stage of the season.The club are still fighting for their Premier League lives and need as many bodies available as possible in order to give themselves the best chance of survival.Caretaker coach Chris Hughton has therefore welcomed the news that the knocks suffered by Taylor and Bassong are not as serious as first feared."We are continuing to assess Steven and Sebastien Bassong and we're hopeful they could be available for Chelsea," he told the club's official website."What we haven't done at this moment is rule out either of them from making the Chelsea game."We are looking for an improvement over the next week or so and if we get that, they've got a chance but we're not ruling either of them out 100 per cent."With both of these injuries the assessment is going to be over the next few days and we'll know after that if one or both of them have a chance for the Chelsea game."

Source: SKY_Sports