TEAM NEWS

Newcastle are without January signings Yoan Gouffran and Mathieu Debuchy for the Europa League clash with Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv.

The duo are cup-tied, having already played for French sides Bordeaux and Lille respectively in this season's Europa League competition.

Gouffran would be unavailable anyway as he recovers from a leg injury.

Hatem Ben Arfa (knee) remains out and fellow midfielder Sammy Ameobi is missing with a hamstring problem.

Metalist won four of their six games in Group K, with their only defeat coming at Rapid Vienna.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew feels he is finally close to a full-strength squad after a difficult season, and is ready for a concerted Europa League campaign.

He said: "We finished fifth in the Premier League last season but we haven't really had that team to put out at any stage of this competition.

"Now I am back to a team that's very similar to the one I had last year in terms of strength and quality - Yohan Cabaye, Steven Taylor, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Moussa Sissoko - they have strengthened our hand, so for sure we are looking stronger in this competition.

"Hopefully we can get through this tie and if we get through this tie, and hopefully get a couple of favourable Premier League results, suddenly we can really look forward to it.

"But we are obviously going up a level in terms of opposition. Metalist are strong and this is a huge test for us."