Taylor return boost

Alan Pardew is hopeful that Newcastle defender Ryan Taylor will make a speedy recovery despite damaging knee ligaments.

The full-back picked up the cruciate injury during the Europa League victory over Atromitos on Thursday night, an injury that usually results in a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Pardew is unable to say when he will return to the fold but is confident he will make a quicker than normal recovery after scans on the injury revealed the damage is not as serious as it can be. "He has done a cruciate, but the good news of that particular injury is that usually when you do it, you do some ligaments or you do a cartilage and it really is problematic,"Pardew revealed. "But Ryan looks quite straightforward. There's not a lot of swelling, the cruciate has detached, so it's purely a case of putting it back and I think he will come back a little bit quicker than most cruciate injuries." Meanwhile, Newcastle are now sweating on the fitness of defender Danny Simpson who limped out of the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa with a hamstring problem.