NEWCASTLE United’s man in the mask will not be making his Premier League return today.
Shola Ameobi flew to Detroit last week to be fitted with a custom-made item to protect the cheekbone he fractured at Fulham earlier this month.
And although it has allowed the striker to train this week, he does not feel ready to take on visiting Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.
Manager Alan Pardew is hopeful that by the time Everton are on Tyneside next Saturday he will have Ameobi in his line-up, along with January signing Stephen Ireland. “Shola’s had a problem with the mask misting up a little bit, it doesn’t cover his eyes but he sweats up, it’s just about him getting comfortable with it,” he explained.
“The pressure points are obviously everywhere on his face other than the area and that looks fine.
“It’s a well-crafted, great product and it’s just about him getting comfortable with it.
“We think he’s going to come back into competitive training on Monday and once he gets a jump against Steven Taylor or Colo (Fabricio Coloccini) and he feels comfortable, he will be fine.”
Pardew sees the Magpies’ next two games as vital, which is why he will be so pleased if he can hand midfielder Ireland a long-awaited debut after joining on loan from Aston Villa in January.
“If we get a win then suddenly we’ll have momentum and we’ll have those two coming back into the squad so it’s a big game,” he said.
“This is a crucial game. When you look at the home games we’ve got left, our home games look better than they have.
“We’ve had some really tough home games but there’s a chance to win some of those. We’ve got Manchester United in there but the rest we’d like to think we’ve got a good chance in, so this is a key game. If we can jump above Bolton suddenly we can look at those games and really look to push on, but if we lose it knocks us back. Momentum is the big thing for me.
“The pleasing thing for me is that at spells this season we’ve lost Cheick and we did okay, we lost Shola and did okay, we’ve obviously lost Andy Carroll and we’re still going along quite nicely.”
Pardew has no fresh injuries today, while Steven Taylor should return on the bench.
