Ben Arfa and Gosling won't be fit until next season.

It looks as though Newcastle fans will have to wait until next season before we see two of this seasons recruits in any steady run of games for the club.

Alan Pardew revealed yesterday that Hatem Ben Arfa had suffered a setback as he stepped up his training on his return from a double leg break meaning that any hope of a late season cameo role has all been dashed. I have to say I'm not surprised the lad has had a setback as he's been out seven months, which is a long time in fairness and setbacks do happen.

Now I've just seen news about another long-term injury absentee, Dan Gosling, that claims that he will not be back in action until next season. On his newly created Twitter account he claims that it will be next season before he is back in action as he keeps up picking up niggles during his recovery. Again, understandable when you consider that he has been out for over a year now.

It's a shame really as Gosling, like Ben Arfa, had been pencilled in for a return this season. Granted they would likely have been fleeting appearances, but it would have been nice for the fans to see them in action and for the player himself to get some action on the pitch.

I'm not surprised by it though and was half-prepared for the pair of them to be out for the whole of the season. At least people can stop getting their hopes up now and the players can take the time to make a full recovery and be fresh for next season.

It seems that injuries are becoming more and more prevalent at Newcastle. We've always struggle with injuries to be fair, but it's the lack of depth in this current squad that exposes them. To be fair, that lack of depth may well be part of the cause of the injuries aswell as we tend to need to play players regardless rather than rest them every now and again.

Fortunately we are safe and only have three games left of this season. Sure it would be nice to push up the league and pick up points in the last few games, but the nuts of it is that we have achieved what we set out to achieve - safety. You never know, we could still pick up points along the way....

Starting at home to Birmingham on Saturday!