Ben Arfa targets February return – Ryan Taylor hopes to be back in April

Posted on January 26th, 2011 | 7 Comments |

Ryan Taylor and Hatem Ben Arfa
Two players keen to return
Newcastle United’s Hatem Ben Arfa is hoping to be fully recovered from his double leg break within a month.

Benny was of course crocked by the delightful Nigel De Jong in our match against Manchester City last October. Initially it was thought that the player could be out for the rest of the season but, according to some tabloid reports, he’s planning a February comeback.

Benny’s agent – Simon Stainrod – said:

“I saw him last week and Hatem is absolutely flying.

“He’s been away to Dubai for a bit of warm weather training and now he’s back in France and training really, really hard.

“There are no miracles with an injury like his and he knows it is hard work that he needs to do, but he’s as fit as a fiddle.”

So that’s good news, particularly on the back of the recent international call-ups and our injury list.

Ryan Talor, meanwhile, is targeting an April comeback from his broken ankle. Raylor said:

“It’s coming on really well. I’ve been running, swimming a lot, cycling and doing a lot of balancing and ankle strength work.

“It’s tough work and there have been some long days, but it’s been great to get the cast off. It was annoying. It was on for what felt like forever but now it’s off, I’ve had a little break and come back fresh.

“It’s such a relief when you get that boot off because you can just move your ankle freely and get back to a normal life. With it being my right foot, it affected everything. You can’t drive, so you’re getting taxied around everywhere – my missus has been like my personal taxi driver and a couple of the lads helped out as well – and it’s just a complete nightmare.

“I started running last week and just to put a pair of boots on is nice. This week, the proper running will start and the hard work really begins in terms of trying to get fit again. The ankle’s okay, it’s just a matter of getting fit now and getting back into the swing of things.

“I went back to see the guy who did the operation two weeks ago and he said I could step up training, so we have. We kicked on last week and over the next three or four weeks we’ll kick on even more. Then I’ll hopefully be back in full training.”

Good!

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

7 Responses

  2. If Taylor does make it back in to the squad then ffs do not play him at fullback. He’s no use whatsoever there! Play him up the pitch on the wing (if he has to play at all). Good news on benny – I just hope he isn’t rushing to get back before he’s ready. It’s all good being fit and able to run but he also has to take the kicks and the twists. Only if we’re desperate for him should he be risked again this season IMO. last thing we need is missing preseason if something were to happen to him again.

  3. Sky sports Graeme bailey says: one of the northeast clubs to splash big cash 2day. on twitter that is

    Could be us, hope so anyway.

  4. Indian – more likely to be Makems. We won’t splash big – at most a little plop.
    Irving

  5. With Routledge gone we need Raylor back for when Joey’s not available. Ridiculous situation in that part of the squad now.
    Benny coming back could be huge but we mustn’t get our hopes up too much forthis season. Impressive recovery whichever way you look at it though.