Italian full-back Davide Santon has missed the last four weeks (allegedly) with a knee injury, but his fall out with Alan Pardew obviously plays a big part.
Santon, 23, last played in the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park on February 12.
The former Inter Milan player had struggled with form and consistency before his injury so there is no guarantee he would replace Paul Dummett in the side for the visit of Tony Pulis’ men.
But with Mathieu Debuchy set to miss the next four games, there could yet be a place for Santon who actually prefers to play on the right, despite playing 99% of his Newcastle games on the left.