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Toon boss reveals Taylor hopes
Newcastle United, 11:52, July 22, 2010 ,
Chris Hughton is hopeful that defender Steven Taylor will be fit for Newcastle's Premier League opener at Manchester United.
The former England Under-21 international is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury he picked up in last weekend's 3-0 pre-season friendly win at Carlisle United.
And, despite having previously been ruled out for up to four months when he dislocated the same shoulder in 2006, Hughton feels Taylor's current problem is not as bad as first feared and he could be back for the trip to Old Trafford on August 16.
"Hopefully it is not too long out for Steven but we want to assess it properly first and then clarify the situation," Hughton told the Journal.
"He will definitely be out of the Norwich game (on Saturday) and it could be a few more weeks after that but we're still assessing it, and we're hoping to have more information by the end of the week.
"It's normal that people will be worried as he has had an injury there before, but we don't want to pre-empt anything by speculating how long he will be out for.
"Steven is desperate to play games because it was a really difficult time for him at the end of last season.
"I think he just wants to play games again so we've all got our fingers crossed for him."