Could Colo be fit for Carrow Road?

The mood amongst NUFC fans has been largely downbeat this week as we ponder just how we are possibly going to get through one hell of a defensive injury crisis.

With Steven Taylor looking like he may be out for the season, Mike Williamson yet to be anywhere near match fitness after being out since August and Fabricio Coloccini looking set to miss up to a month with a thigh strain it's fair to say that we're scraping the bottle of the defensive barrel.

However, whilst the trip to Norwich on Saturday will come too soon for Mike Williamson, one player who hasn't given up hope of making the team is our curly haired Captian, Coloccini who, when speaking at an awards ceremony in Gateshead last night said: "It is tight but I am hoping to play in the next game."

If Coloccini is fit for the trip to the land of tractors, carrots, Lotus cars and incest then it will be a massive boost. Having one senior centre-back, arguably our most important centre-back, fit would put us in a much better position to take something from Carrow Road.

However now we face a dilemma. If Colo is deemed fit enough by our medical staff and feels good enough to play then happy days. However if there is any shred of doubt do we risk him? Do we potentially play him in the short term only to sacrifice him in the long term if he isn't quite 100% fit? Is it worth rushing him back for this game, when perhaps he isn't quite right, only to risk his injury flaring up and losing him for a greater period of time?

Overall I've been impressed with the way Alan Pardew and Newcastle have been handling injuries thus far. If a player need an operation he tends to go for the 'premium' option, like Sylvain Marveaux for example. My, admittedly limited, understanding with Marveaux is that they've sent him away to try and rectify what is causing him his groin bother in the first place rather than just patching up this latest injury.

It will make Alan Pardew's pre-match press call interesting. It will be interesting to see just what is said about Colo and indeed another injury absentee from recent weeks, Cheik Tiote. In an ideal world they will both be passed fit, but this isn't an ideal world unfortunately.

Keep your fingers crossed!