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Carver Pleased To Welcome Back Key Men
Written by Newcastle Utd
Head coach John Carver is looking forward to welcoming a host of key players back for Newcastle's Barclays Premier League run-in
By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor
John Carver is looking forward to welcoming a clutch of key players back for Newcastle United's Barclays Premier League run-in.
The likes of Papiss Cisse, Moussa Sissoko, Paul Dummett and Rolando Aarons have all been sidelined recently due to either injury or suspension as the Magpies have lost seven successive games.
Siem de Jong marked his first appearance since August with a goal in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Swansea, and Sissoko and Dummett could both return for United's trip to Leicester at the weekend.
The King Power Stadium clash will be the final fixture of Cisse's seven-match ban while livewire England under-20 international winger Aarons is also closing in on a comeback.
De Jong is set to play for Newcastle's under-21s at Derby on Tuesday. The game will be played at the Rams' training ground (kick-off 3pm) and, speaking to nufcTV, head coach Carver said: "I think it'll boost everybody's confidence, seeing Siem come back.
"You can see why we bought him. You can see the quality he has and the fans will be excited by watching him when he's fully fit.
"He needs to get 90 minutes under his belt, playing in the under-21s. He'll play on Tuesday so he won't start next weekend but he'll be involved again and he might get longer than 20 minutes.
"Moussa Sissoko will be back next week, and Paul Dummett, so we're getting players back from that injury room.
"It's important that we do. They're probably coming back at the most important time - and that is with four games to go.
"Paul's had a couple of good weeks of training. He trained with us (on Friday) fully. He'll have a full week's training under his belt so hopefully he'll be okay for next weekend."
On Aarons - who hasn't featured since November - Carver added: "Again, he's had two or three days training but he's not played in any games yet, so he'll need to get a game under his belt.
"He's not ready for Tuesday but you might get him in the last couple of games."
Click here to watch the nufcTV interview with John Carver