Newcastle United praying Sebastien Bassong returns

Mar 30 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

Hughton, now caretaker manager, has been impressed by the rapid improvement since, and stressed there can be much more to come if the former Metz player keeps showing the right attitude.

“As for how good he will be, none of us know,” Hughton said of a player who has attracted interest from Arsenal. “He’s a young player with a lot of potential.

“When we brought him in we saw that potential but in all honesty, if you’d asked would he have played the amount of games he has, all of us would have said no. But he has by his endeavour and willingness to learn.

“There’s no doubt he can continue to improve as a player, and that’s very much up to him.”

Bassong is one of two key defenders whose fitness will be under great scrutiny this week. Hughton is desperate for either him or Steven Taylor to be fit enough to face Chelsea.

Otherwise he will be forced to field a makeshift centre-back against a team who will be without top-scorer Nicolas Anelka, but still have Didier Drogba.

Taylor has been forced to withdraw from the England Under-21 squad with an ankle injury and while hopes are high that he could be fit to travel to Stoke City on April 11, lining up alongside Fabricio Coloccini at the weekend is looking optimistic.

So if Bassong fails to make it as well, right-back Habib Beye is likely to have to deputise.

Hughton has not given up hope of having winger Damien Duff available, despite damaging a hamstring while with the Republic of Ireland.

A scan revealed a bleed in the hamstring which ruled Duff out of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria and Wednesday’s clash with Italy in Bari. But Newcastle hope he has an outside chance of facing his former club.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have rubbished suggestions made in one Sunday newspaper that United are considering going into administration this season.

The club’s managing director Derek Llambias last night told The Journal: “There is absolutely no truth in the story whatsoever. It’s ridiculous, it’s usually based on a rumour and I don’t know where these things are hatched.”