Newcastle v Bolton: Coloccini Returns

By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Captain Fabricio Coloccini returns to the Newcastle United starting line-up for their Premier League clash against Bolton Wanderers at the Sports Direct Arena this afternoon (3pm kick-off).

The centre-back hobbled off at half-time against West Brom last month with a hamstring strain and missed the next two fixtures - a pair of 2-0 victories over Liverpool and Swansea.

But Coloccini has recovered and is named in place of Cheick Tiote as the only change to United's ranks from their win in South Wales on Good Friday.

Tiote was withdrawn midway through that match due to a hamstring complaint, and James Perch will make the switch from the heart of the Magpies defence to a role in the centre of midfield today.

Papiss Cisse - who has scored nine goals in eight games since his January arrival from SC Freiburg - unsurprisingly leads the line once again, flanked by leading scorer Demba Ba and France international Hatem Ben Arfa.

Bolton make a trio of changes following their 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Fulham on Saturday. Full-back Marco Alonso, on-loan winger Ryo Miyaichi and striker David Ngog make way for Gretar Steinsson, Chris Eagles and club captain Kevin Davies.

Newcastle United (4-3-3): Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Davide Santon; Yohan Cabaye, James Perch, Jonas Gutierrez; Hatem Ben Arfa, Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba

Substitutes: Rob Elliot, James Tavernier, Shane Ferguson, Ryan Taylor, Mehdi Abeid, Dan Gosling, Shola Ameobi

Bolton Wanderers (4-5-1): Adam Bogdan; Gretar Steinsson, David Wheater, Tim Ream, Sam Ricketts; Chris Eagles, Nigel Reo-Coker, Mark Davies, Darren Pratley, Martin Petrov; Kevin Davies (c)

Substitutes: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Marcos Alonso, Zat Knight, Ryo Miyaichi, Ivan Klasnic, David Ngog, Marvin Sordell

Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)