Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has revealed that midfielder Siem de Jong could make his Premier League debut against Aston Villa.
The 25-year-old joined the Magpies from Ajax in the summer, but he missed his side's opening-day defeat to Manchester City with a calf injury.
However, Pardew believes that De Jong has made significant progress in his recovery to be deemed fit enough to feature at Villa Park.
"Siem has trained all week and will be in the squad, so good news on that front," Pardew told the club's official website.
"We had him in pre-season, but he missed last week. He's back this week, I think he's keen to start, we'll have to wait and see if he's ready but his enthusiasm is good and his CV and quality speaks for itself.
"Hopefully he can produce a great season for us."
Newcastle face Villa later today.
Written by
Simon Sinclair
Simon Sinclair
