Ireland fit for Wolves?

Newcastle could be boosted by the long awaited return to fitness of Stephen Ireland, if the midfielder manages to come through a week of full training first.

Ireland was supposed to be ready for his debut a few weeks back although a thigh injury scuppered any chances of that and his debut was put on hold again. It would appear that the wait could finally be over for Ireland, and with Cheik Tiote out for the next two games due to suspension, the 24-year-old could be thrown in at the deep end.

Pardew told The Chronicle: “We’re hoping he’ll train fully on Monday, which would give him a week’s work going into the Wolves game."

“He’s got a very good chance, although we’re conscious of what happened the last time, when he pulled a muscle in his thigh. We’ve taken a little bit more time over him. He could probably join in today or tomorrow, but we’ll hold him back until next week.”

“Stephen becomes an important figure for us in the last eight games,” Pardew said. "When Andy Carroll left, we wanted to bring in a quality player, and Stephen’s a quality player. He’s been a little bit unlucky with injury, but we think he’ll be available.”

Whether or not Ireland will be fit to start remains to be seen. In ordinary circumstances I'd have liked him to be introduced steadily with maybe a few substitute appearances to allow him to get back into the swing of things. But needs must, and the need for three points as well as a need for a replacement for Tiote may dictate.

This the midfield I would probably go with, although again much of this depends on the fitness of Ireland. It may well be too much too soon, but we are hardly blessed with other alternatives. We could play Guthrie instead maybe?

The impact of Stephen Ireland been discussed to great extent before, and the general consensus is that he is a player who can be good or bad in equal measure. Still, it's looks as though he will be featuring heavily in our run in so I guess all that we can do is keep our fingers crossed that we see the good side, or the Manchester City side of Stephen Ireland, as opposed to the Aston Villa side of Stephen Ireland.

What do you think about that midfield? Would you go with something different?

Let us know what you think!