Pemain pertahanan Newcastle United itu hilang peluang beraksi dalam 3 perlawanan akhir musim ini selepas mengalami kecederaan dalam sesi latihan.

Williamson mengalami kecederaan itu pada pagi Khamis dan dia akan dibedah tengahari ini untuk merawat tulang patah di bahagian bawah lengannya.

Kecederaan ini menyebabkan Williamson akan hilang peluang beraksi dalam perlawanan Sabtu ini menentang Birmingham City dan juga perlawanan seterusnya menentang Chelsea dan West Brom.

Manager Alan Pardew said: “It’s a freak injury and unfortunate for the big fella, and he is going to miss now the end part of the season.

Kehilangan pemain berusia 27 tahun ini membuka peluang kepada Steven Taylor untuk mengambil kembali tempatnya di pertahanan tengah bersama Coloccini.

Williamson yang menyertai Magpies dari Portsmouth pada Januari 2010, telah membuat 29 penampilan dalam perlawanan Premier League musim ini.

Newcastle sepatutnya selamat untuk terus beraksi di Premier League memandangkan mereke menduduki tangga ke-12 liga, 6 mata di atas 3 kelab terbawah.

3 mata sudah cukup menjamin kedudukan NUFC, dan perlawanan menentang Birmingham adalah masa terbaik untuk mereka mendapatkannya.

Related Articles

• Broken arm for Williamson (skysports.com)
• Newcastle’s Williamson breaks arm (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Mike Williamson breaks arm during Newcastle training (independent.co.uk)
• Newcastle defender Williamson breaks arm at training (tribalfootball.com)
• Newcastle United: Magpies defender suffers broken arm (clubcall.com)

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Newcastle tidak menghadapi sebarang masalah kecederaan terbaru ketika dalam persiapan menghadapi perlawanan Liga Perdana England menentang Birmingham City pada pagi Selasa, yang telah dijadualkan-semula akibat masalah salji tebal sebelum ini.

Steven Taylor telah kembali menjalani latihan selepas pulih daripada kecederaan hamstring dan dijangka akan bermain untuk pasukan-simpanan pada minggu depan.

Shola Ameobi pula akan ke Amerika Syarikat untuk dipakaikan topeng-pelindung bagi menangani masalah retak tulang pipi yang dihadapinya. Dia akan boleh bermain ketika lawatan Bolton ke St James’ Park pada 26 Februari 2011 nanti (Tarikh sama Kedah FA vs Kelantan FA).

Ryan Taylor sedang berusaha memulihkan tahap kecergasan selepas mengalami kecederaan bukulali.

Tetapi Stephen Ireland, Dan Gosling yang masing-masing cedera lutut, Alan Smith (cedera bukulali) dan Hatem Ben Arfa (patah kaki) masih diketepikan.

Related Articles

• Newcastle United: Toon chief to keep the faith (clubcall.com)
• Birmingham v Newcastle preview (skysports.com)
• Birmingham City v Newcastle United: match preview (telegraph.co.uk)

The former England Under-21 captain is attracting more Premier League attention.

Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor could be on the verge of a Premier League return after a number of scouts where sent to St. James’ Park on Wednesday.

The Magpies saw off Sheffield Wednesday thanks to Shola Ameobi’s fourth goal of the season and Taylor was instrumental at the back.

The Former England Under-21 captain has been a long term target for Arsenal but it appears Everton are leading the chase to sign the defender.

Reports in The Newcastle Evening Chronicle suggest Taylor is seen a possible replacement for Manchester City target Joleon Lescott, who was dropped by manager David Moyes for poor conduct during the transfer saga.

Moyes sent his trusted scout Jimmy Lumsden to St James’ Park just moments after axing Lescott from the squad to face Sigma Olomouc in the Europa League play-offs.

The £8 million-rated defender has suggested he would stay at his boyhood club if Alan Shearer was appointed manager, however he has suffered growing frustrations at the club’s situation and their drawn-out takeover.

Arsenal and Liverpool also sent scouts to the game whilst Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa were also previously linked with a move for the center-back.

David Kifford, Goal.com

Shola Ameobi was once again the Newcastle United matchwinner as the Magpies made it seven points out nine in their Championship quest.

That’s four goals in five days at St James’ Park for the gangly striker as Sheffield Wednesday slipped to their first defeat following two opening draws.

But this was no plain sailing for Newcastle as they had Fabricio Coloccini, Alan Smith and Steven Taylor all cautioned against the hard-working Hillsborough outfit in front of a crowd of 44,904.

The big difference was in defence where Newcastle were rock solid as they kept successive clean sheets.

Wednesday only had one real chance of any merit, a late chance for substitute Francis Jeffers that was blocked by Steve Harper.

Joey Barton failed to recover from the knock he picked up during Saturday’s win over Reading which meant Ryan Taylor switched to his midfield slot on the right and there was a debut at right-back for Manchester United loan player Danny Simpson.

Wednesday were unchanged from the side that drew 1-1 at Peterborough.

Newcastle attacked from the off and Kevin Nolan finished off as fine move by driving just over.

Wednesday got back into the game and the determination of Harper and Steven Taylor was necessary to crowd out Sean McAllister, who only managed to fire high and wide under pressure.

Skipper Smith was booked after 14 minutes following a rash challenge and from the Wednesday free-kick, it was Newcastle who ultimately went ahead.

Wednesday keeper Lee Grant hit the free-kick straight at Harper who in turn launched it straight downfield where it was headed on by Andy Carroll and Ameobi superbly swept the ball beyond Grant.

Ameobi then came close to a second goal a couple of minutes later, rising well to head a Ryan Taylor corner that Grant held just under the bar.

Despite their neat and tidy approach work, Wednesday did little to trouble Harper in the half first as far too often they were let down by a poor final delivery.

Ryan Taylor, yet to open his United account, came close to doing so after 52 minutes when his 25 yard free-kick was acrobatically turned behind by Grant and from the flag-kick a Nolan thunderbolt flew just over the bar.

Carroll limped off after 58 minutes to be replaced by Xisco with United having clearly lost their first-half momentum.

Wednesday looked as if they had a goal in them and came close after 64 minutes when hard-working former Sunderland player Michael Gray’s free-kick was turned behind by Harper.

Wednesday had a wonderful opportunity to draw level four minutes from time as Newcastle desperately lost their way.

A ball over the top was superbly controlled by substitute Jeffers, who worked himself into a shooting only to be denied by a brave Harper block.

Obafemi Martins and Peter Lovenkrands climbed off the substitutes’ bench to hand Alan Shearer a first victory and Newcastle a Barclays Premier League lifeline with a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough.

The Nigeria international struck within seconds of replacing Michael Owen with 20 minutes of a pulsating encounter remaining and the Dane secured the points with four minutes left to drag the Magpies out of the relegation zone and send Hull into the bottom three.

It was Newcastle’s first home win since December 21 and just their second anywhere in 18 attempts in what Shearer had described as the biggest match of his career, and he celebrated accordingly on the final whistle.

But opposite number Gareth Southgate could have few complaints about the effort his players put in as they fought for their top-flight lives to the death, although their plight now looks desperate after an 11th successive away league defeat.

They had taken a third-minute lead when the unfortunate Habib Beye bundled the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Steve Harper had blocked Tuncay Sanli’s close-range shot.

Steven Taylor celebrates his equaliser against Boro - GettyImages

However, defender Steven Taylor levelled within six with a bullet header after Boro old boy Mark Viduka had hit the post on a night when both sides enjoyed spells of control in front of a passionate crowd of 51,252.

Owen, who admitted his disappointment at being dropped for the trip to Liverpool last time out in his programme notes, returned to the starting line-up in one of five changes as Shearer went for broke.

However, with Boro also having reached the point of no return, Southgate too adopted an attacking approach with record signing Afonso Alves partnering Marvin Emnes in attack as the Dutchman was handed a first league start, and Stewart Downing lined up on the right in an attempt to test makeshift full-back Damien Duff.

The first goal arrived within three minutes of the kick-off, but for Shearer, it came at the wrong end and with a good deal of misfortune.

Tuncay turned well on Alves’ pass, but looked to have overrun the ball.

He got there just ahead of the fast-advancing Harper, who blocked, only to see the rebound ricochet back off Beye and into his own net.

Newcastle’s luck did not improve at all three minutes later when Viduka blasted a shot towards Brad Jones’ top corner, but with the goalkeeper looking on helplessly the ball cannoned back off the post.

But if there was any sense of despondency at St James’ it disappeared with nine minutes gone when Taylor rose to meet the first of a series of Danny Guthrie corners and guided a header past Jones.

The home side took the game by the scruff of the neck and Jones had to pull off a vital fingertip save to keep out Owen’s flicked 27th-minute header.

But Boro gradually eased their way into the game and with Downing and Tuncay prospering on the wings and Emnes causing all kinds of problems to stretch the Magpies defence, they threatened to restore their lead.

They very nearly did just that when the Dutchman benefited from Mohamed Shawky’s tackle on Viduka deep inside his own half and blasted in a shot which Harper blocked with his legs, and the striker wastefully dragged the loose ball wide.

Alves later departed on a stretcher to be replaced by Marlon King, but the game was very much in the melting pot as the players headed for the dressing room.

Viduka might have put the home side ahead with the cheekiest of efforts when he back-heeled Beye’s 46th-minute cross wide of the far post, and Nicky Butt drilled a free-kick into the defensive wall as the Magpies started brightly once again.

But Boro’s response was concerted and as the home side completely lost both their shape and concentration, it took an excellent save from Harper to keep out Gary O’Neil’s goal-bound 57th-minute strike.

The Teessiders were by now looking the more likely to break the deadlock, and Shearer decided the time had come to replace Jonas Gutierrez with Lovenkrands.

But it was Martins’ arrival as a 70th-minute substitute for Owen which proved the turning point.

Viduka headed on a high ball past Kevin Nolan and the Nigerian stepped inside Matthew Bates before dispatching the ball past Jones despite slipping as he shot.

The noise inside St James’ almost lifted the roof, although the game was far from over as the home fans settled down for an agonising finish.

But Lovenkrands calmed the nerves with four minutes remaining when he thumped home Nolan’s cross to seal a win as important as any in the club’s recent history.

Newcastle full-back Jose Enrique could return for Monday night’s Barclays Premier League clash with Portsmouth.

The Spaniard, the club’s only senior specialist left-back, has missed the last two games with a knee injury but was due to resume full training over the weekend and could figure.

Strikers Obafemi Martins (groin) and Mark Viduka (Achilles) have suffered no reaction to their returns to action at Tottenham last Sunday, but Steven Taylor (ankle) and Joey Barton (fractured metatarsal) remain doubts.

Portsmouth are waiting on forward David Nugent and defender Younes Kaboul with the pair suffering thigh injuries.

Nugent failed to come out for the second half against Manchester United on Wednesday after a challenge by Nemanja Vidic while Kaboul missed the game following a knock in the win over Bolton five days earlier.

However, both are expected to benefit from the few extra days rest.

Kaboul’s return would enable Glen Johnson to revert to midfield at the expense of Jermaine Pennant

Midfielder Niko Kranjcar, however, is unlikely to feature although medical reports on his damaged ankle – also sustained against Bolton – suggest he will return before the end of the season.

Pompey boss Paul Hart believes the Alan Shearer factor will have little bearing on Newcastle’s bid for survival unless the former England captain’s players share the responsibility with their new boss.

Hart was already more than six weeks into his own rescue job at Fratton Park by the time Shearer decided to leave the comfort of the pundit’s sofa and return to St James’ Park.

While Hart has won three and drawn four of his first nine matches, taking Pompey to the relative respectability of 14th place in the table, Shearer has managed just one point from his first three games in charge.

But Hart, whose side are seven points clear of their hosts with just five games to go, insists his own players have rebuilt such belief in themselves over the past two months that it will take a special performance to beat them.

“I said when Shearer took the job at Newcastle, and I’ve said it many times, was that Alan Shearer was a great player and I’m sure he’s going to become a great manager if he wants to be.

“But it is just the same at Newcastle as it is here. It is players who make teams play.”

Shearer said: “Without doubt, they will be a tough nut to crack. Paul Hart has gone in there and done a really good job.

“They will certainly be a threat from set-pieces, but I believe if we look at ourselves and do it right ourselves, then we will have a big chance.”

Newcastle United and Alan Shearer were plunged closer to relegation after Darren Bent fired Tottenham to a 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane.

Bent struck after 24 minutes to leave Shearer without a win in his first three games as temporary manager, and he now has five matches to keep his club in the Premier League.

Fortunately for them, they have home clashes against Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Fulham – but judging by this performance they will not be straightforward.

Darren Bent scores for Tottenham Hotspur

They struggled to impose themselves on Spurs until Obafemi Martins came on and had a goal disallowed and a huge penalty shout turned down.

It means Newcastle are now four points from safety and it looks like their survival bid will go to the wire.

The fact the Magpies had won their last six matches against Spurs mattered little in the context of staying in the top flight – Shearer was drafted in because they have only won a single game since Christmas.

It was also unfortunate for them they faced a Tottenham team who have been solid at home since the arrival of Harry Redknapp last October.

They have only conceded nine goals there all season and are still in the hunt for Europa League qualification.

Michael Owen endured a frustrating afternoon and provided little to persuade Fabio Capello, who was in the stands, he is worthy of an England recall. Read the rest of this entry »

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe could make a shock return to the squad for the clash against Newcastle.
Defoe is back in full training after injuring his foot at the end of January and is pushing for a place, even though it was originally thought the game would come too soon for him.

Roman Pavlyuchenko (back) and Jermaine Jenas (hamstring) are struggling but Wilson Palacios is back from suspension and Alan Hutton (foot) is fit again.

Jermaine Jenas admits he expected Alan Shearer to be appointed Newcastle boss earlier in the season – and he just hopes there is enough time for him to save their season.

Shearer has six games to get the club out of relegation trouble and travels to Tottenham looking for his first win as a manager – one of three tough away games as they also face Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Hopes have been pinned on the remaining three games at St James’ Park, although there are fears Shearer may have been brought in too late.

Spurs midfielder Jenas, Shearer’s former team-mate, said: “I wasn’t surprised when he came in, I was expecting it all season.

“I’m sure he will do really well. I was reading that Shay (Given), another of my old team-mates, was worried that they may have left it too late. You hope it isn’t too late.”

Unfortunately for Shearer, Spurs have a place in Europe to play for and have also conceded the least amount of home goals in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Jenas has been a regular since Spurs went on a run that turned them from relegation candidates to European hopefuls, although he is struggling with a hamstring injury.

If he does not make it, Jenas will tell his team-mates how Newcastle will be “scrapping” for survival.

“If you look at the size of the club, nobody would have said at the start of the season they could have gone down,” Jenas said. “It’s unfortunate they are in that position and they will be scrapping.

“For a club like Newcastle to drop out of the Premier League is massive. We need to make sure we are up for the fight ourselves.”

Jenas saw Shearer develop managerial qualities while he was still playing.

“Sir Bobby Robson was the main man, the manager, but anywhere else you looked in the club it was Alan Shearer running it,” he said. “I had no doubt in my mind that he would be manager soon. He is a leader.”

Newcastle manager Shearer will make a series of late decisions on his injured players.

Shearer has asked striker Obafemi Martins (groin) to play through the pain barrier, while defender Steven Taylor (ankle) and midfielder Peter Lovenkrands (chest infection) were due to resume full training on Friday.

Left-back Jose Enrique (knee) remains a doubt but striker Mark Viduka (Achilles) is included in the squad.

Andy Carroll is fulfilling a dream as he attempts to follow in the footsteps of his hero.

The 20-year-old Newcastle striker’s late header at Stoke last weekend snatched a vital point for the club and sent Shearer into raptures on the sidelines.

That represented a major reversal of roles for a man who just a few short years ago was worshipping Shearer from the stands.

Whatever else happens over the remaining six games of a traumatic season on Tyneside, no-one will be able to take away what could prove a formative few weeks in his career.

Carroll said: “Playing for Alan Shearer is unbelievable. I used to watch him when I was younger, and he was a hero to me.

“He’s the manager now and I have just got to try to impress as much as I can.

“I know what he used to do. I have just got to try my best and do what I can do.”

Two of Carroll’s three senior goals to date for the club – his equaliser at Stoke and an earlier leveller at home to West Ham in January – have secured important points.

However, it is perhaps the trouble the 6ft 3ins hitman’s physical presence causes defenders which could be most useful between now and the end of May.

Shearer has been impressed with the way he has staked his claim with his performances for the reserves, and Carroll knows if he continues to impress the manager and assistant Iain Dowie, he will enjoy further involvement.

He said: “I have just got to try to impress them both and get a first-team place.

“They have come in and changed a lot of things. They have got the respect of everyone, which is what was needed.

“Everyone wants to play for them. Whether I play or not is up to them – I have just got to keep doing what I can do.”

Michael Owen could not prevent Newcastle from slipping deep into relegation trouble as Arsenal closed the gap on the Barclays Premier League’s top three with a 3-1 victory.

The England striker, who started the game on the bench, arrived just in time to see the Gunners earn some breathing space at St James’ Park, and there was little he or anyone else in a black and white shirt could do about it.

It might have been different had Obafemi Martins converted a 23rd-minute penalty – which Owen would have taken had he started – but Manuel Almunia kept out his spot-kick to provide the platform for a clinical second-half display.

Nicklas Bendtner opened the scoring with a 57th-minute header, but Martins levelled within seconds to give his side hope.

However, goals from Abou Diaby and Samir Nasri within a devastating three-minute period wrapped up a win which saw the Gunners close the gap to Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, and at the same time, dump Newcastle into the mire.

The home side ran out knowing they had slipped into the bottom three as a result of victories for Stoke and Portsmouth earlier in the day, and that did not make an already difficult task any easier.

In the circumstances, they knew there was little margin for error as they attempted to upset the odds to drag themselves out of trouble.

What was required was a spirited 90-minute display, and caretaker manager Chris Hughton will have been delighted with the way his players approached the game before the break.

That they ended the half with a clean sheet was down to two superb blocks by Steven Taylor and a fine save by goalkeeper Steve Harper, who was excellent throughout; that they did so without having taken the lead will trouble Martins for some time.

The Magpies were handed a gilt-edged chance when referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot after Almunia had bundled Ryan Taylor to the ground after failing to collect a high ball.

Martins stepped up and calmly stroked his penalty low to the Spaniard’s left, but the goalkeeper guessed right and made a comfortable save.

The miss might have proved even more costly within three minutes when Andrey Arshavin wormed his way into the box and shot firmly towards goal, and could not believe his luck when Steven Taylor arrived out of nowhere to block.

But it took an equally fine last-minute challenge by Gael Clichy at the other end eight minutes later to deny Peter Lovenkrands.

Arshavin almost capped a superb 35th-minute run from his own half with a goal when he sent a blistering long-range shot just over, but Lovenkrands only just failed to find a finishing touch to convert Kevin Nolan’s driven cross four minutes later.

Martins, who had earlier gone close with a header, sent a fizzing snapshot just wide six minutes before the break, but it was the Gunners who finished the half with a flurry.

Harper had to dive at Van Persie’s feet to keep him out with a minute to go and Steven Taylor once again performed heroics in injury time after Bendtner had made the most of Fabricio Coloccini’s slip to pick out the Dutchman in front of goal.

Arsenal returned in determined mood and retained possession with ease as they tried to open Newcastle up, and it took a good block from substitute Habib Beye, a first-half replacement for the injured Sebastien Bassong, to see off Bendtner with 50 minutes gone.

Newcastle responded by forcing a series of corners, and from one of them, Steven Taylor had a header cleared off the line by William Gallas.

But the fireworks started in earnest two minutes later when Bendtner climbed highest to head home Arshavin’s free-kick.

However, the home side were level within seconds when Martins refused to give up on a ball into the box and when it sat up nicely for him, he fired a left-foot shot past Almunia to level.

Arsenal treated the setback as a minor irritation, and the result was put beyond doubt with a quick-fire double.

With Steven Taylor off the pitch receiving treatment, Diaby waltzed through an under-strength defence to blast his side back into the lead with 64 minutes gone, and when Nasri thumped a third past Harper three minutes later, the game was over.

In the meantime, Owen had replaced the injured Taylor, but all the action was taking place at the other end with Harper pulling off a fine double save from Denilson and Bendtner, and then keeping out Van Persie once again with his defence in tatters, and only a post denied Diaby a fourth in injury time.