the Toon goalkeeper was close to making the bench against Stoke City last week.
He is expected to leave the club in the summer, and with four tough fixtures coming up - and Tim Krul in fine form and Rob Elliot the official No 2 - it seems we could have seen the last of the Easington-born keeper,
Krul had been a doubt on the eve of the game, having not trained all week because of a back problem.
Rob Elliot had been put on standby to play, with Harper ready to be named among the substitutes.
However, Krul proved his fitness and kept his Premier League ever-present tag – and a fifth clean sheet in six games – as Newcastle moved into the top four.
Harper's only appearance this season was the pre-season victory in the States against Columbus Crew:-
COLUMBUS CREW 0 NEWCASTLE 3 (Ameobi, Coloccini, Vuckic)
Harper; Tavernier, S Taylor, Coloccini (Dummett, 54), Enrique; Gutierrez (Abeid, 85), Tiote (Smith, 62), Gosling, Marveaux (Vuckic, 76); Ameobi (Best, 75), Ba. Subs not used: Forster, Krul.
Asked how close Krul was to not playing, Pardew added: “Very close.
“He didn’t train all week. I wouldn’t have hesitated with Robbie, though. Harps was terrific in the dressing room in terms of whether he was going to be on the bench.
“He had a great attitude. He was important. You can’t underestimate that attitude.”
Midfielder Yohan Cabaye – who scored two goals and set up another for Papiss Demba Cisse against Stoke – suffered a knock in the game, but Pardew is hopeful he’ll be fit to face Wigan.