Newcastle vs Man City preview - No Shola for Magpies - 7M sport

Newcastle vs Man City preview - No Shola for Magpies



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Posted Sunday, December 26, 2010 by PA

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi is struggling to make the Boxing Day clash with Manchester City.

Ameobi would have missed the postponed Barclays Premier League trip to Birmingham last weekend with a hamstring injury, and is likely to miss out on Sunday.

However, defender Sol Campbell has shaken off the bout of illness which threatened his participation at St Andrews, and he and Steven Taylor will fight to keep their places as Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson belatedly return from suspension.

Keeper Steve Harper, who was an unused substitute for the 3-1 victory over Liverpool on his return from shoulder surgery, is pushing to replace Tim Krul, but Dan Gosling (knee), Ryan Taylor (ankle ligaments) and Hatem Ben Arfa (double leg fracture) are still out.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has warned his players to beware a Manchester City backlash as they attempt to continue his winning start.

The Magpies head into the Boxing Day clash with Roberto Mancini's expensively-assembled all-star side on the back of a creditable 3-1 Barclays Premier League victory over Liverpool in the new manager's first game at the helm.

His hopes of building upon that last Saturday were dashed by the weather when their fixture at Birmingham was called off, and although their efforts to prepare for Sunday's game have been disrupted by frozen training pitches on Tyneside, they will run out against City confident they can emerge with some reward.

However, Pardew believes City's shock 2-1 home defeat by Everton on Monday evening, which denied them the chance to go top, has simply increased the degree of difficulty.

He said: "That hasn't really done us any favours because they will be hurting in that dressing room and in that group, and they will bring that to Newcastle to try to put it right after what happened on Monday night.

"It's perhaps a tougher game for us with that mentality, so we need to make sure we are just as strong.

"I don't think they started well on Monday and I think they will focus on that for us, and I am sure they will start better.

"But they have got some very, very good players in all areas and they can affect it from the bench as well, so obviously, it is a really, really tough game, but one we are looking forward to.

"It's one of the big four, five, six clubs in the country now coming to our place, and that's where we want to be, so we will put ourselves up against them and see how we get on.

"But we are catching them on the back of a defeat, which makes them like a wounded animal, so I am sure it's going to be a really, really tough game for us and we must do what Everton did, put our bodies on the line and give full, maximum effort to try to secure a win."

Nigel de Jong will return from suspension as City look to get their Premier League challenge back on track.

Mario Balotelli has shrugged off a minor knee ailment and is expected to be part of Roberto Mancini's squad, while Pablo Zabaleta (ankle) is also set to report fit.

David Silva knows he could have avoided the snow and given himself Christmas off by staying in Spain - but the Manchester City star feels life is much more interesting at Eastlands.

La Liga has shut down for a couple of weeks to give players and fans a break, and an opportunity to enjoy the festivities.

Not so over here, where Silva is about to experience the usual crush of four games in just over a week, which will do so much to shape the season as a whole.

But when the Spain star looks at the comparative league tables - Barcelona and Real Madrid streaking clear back home compared to the jostling for top spot in England - he knows where he would rather be.

"Barcelona and Real Madrid are going well and have built up quite a lead," Silva told www.mcfc.co.uk.

"In England it is far more hard fought. You could have any number of teams getting up there near the top.

"That makes for a more entertaining and enjoyable league."



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