Pardew: "We think Joey has got a good chance."

As Newcastle prepare to do battle with Stoke City this Saturday the attention will inevitably turn towards the news regarding the injury situation at NUFC.

It's far from ideal at the moment as what is already a thin squad in terms of quality is being stretched to the limit even further by injury to key players such as Jose Enrique, Jonas Gutierrez and Joey Barton. Losing one of them is bad enough, but losing all three of them is disastrous as the squad try and limp over the line towards Premier League safety.

Whilst none of those three players have been officially ruled out for the visit to The Britannia, Alan Pardew has given his strongest indication yet with regard to just how likely all three are to feature on Saturday afternoon. Speaking to Sky Sports, Pardew talked about the fitness fortunes of the trio:

"Jose and Jonas, we have just got to see after training tomorrow, really. You are pitching them in without training after 10 to 14 days in a Premier League game where it is almost like warfare at times at their place, so I will be careful what I do."

"I would have to be 100% sure they are right. We think Joey has got a good chance - he did the warm-up today. Jose looks very doubtful; Jonas did the warm-up today, but he looks a bit doubtful."

So the message in that seems to be Jose doesn't have a chance, neither does Jonas but we could possibly have Barton back to boost the numbers. That means that we effectively have no left side of midfield so part of the problem will be trying to address that. Will Ferguson get a start? Will Simpson play left back? Will James Perch get a recall? I certainly don't know, and neither does Pardew, or at least he says he doesn't know anyway! Pardew continued:

"I don't know who will get the nod. My selection will be based around being strong enough to cope with what they do. They don't really carve you open with inter-play, it is set-plays and second phases and aggression and forceful play, and you have got to be able to cope with that. That's something I will think about when I select the team."

Well we'll just have to wait and see I guess, but being honest there isn't an awful lot to pick from. Hopefully Steven Taylor won't get picked to play at right-back again, although to be fair The Britannia has a lot of empty space behind it so it would give him some space to back off the attacker some more! Mind you, he had a shocker so he can only improve from his showing against Everton.

It's been said a million times now and it will be said another million times from now until the end of the season no doubt, but injuries in certain positions are killing us. It's something we all know so I won't dwell on it. I just hope the lads who do deputise can step up to the plate and force their way in to the team. I'll be there amongst a sell out away crowd backing them to, hopefully, do just that.

Howay the lads!