Carver: "Having him, Mehdi Abeid and Sammy Ameobi fit again just adds to the group.
"He seems a huge character, he's a good talker who pops in every morning for a chat. He's one of the big characters in the dressing room.
"But we need him fully fit. I think he's got to have two, maybe three Under-21 games and then maybe 45 minutes, 70 and then a full game. He's still a little bit off at the moment."
De Jong was fit enough to join the rest of his team-mates on this week's warm weather training camp in Dubai, where he will be able to go through his paces away from the wind, rain and show which has hit Tyneside in recent days.
The party jetted out on Sunday, a day after a 2-1 home defeat by Southampton, their seventh in nine games in all competitions, saw them slip out of the top half of the Barclays Premier League table.
Newcastle have won none of the four games they have played since Pardew's departure for Crystal Palace.