Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren has revealed that three injured first-team players should return to training by the end of the week.
Jamaal Lascelles, Rolando Aarons and Emmanuel Riviere have made just seven Premier League appearances between them so far this season, having suffered with a variety of injuries for the majority of the campaign.
However, McClaren is hopeful to have them all available once again by the turn of the year, while there was also good news on Steven Taylor, who is in line to return by mid-January.
"Jamaal trained this morning for the first time; Rolando will train at the end of the week and Manu will be training by the end of the week," McClaren told reporters.
"Steven Taylor is coming on really well, so a fortnight into January he could be back training as well, so it's good news on that front."
McClaren was, however, unsure whether he would have Papiss Cisse available to him over the festive period due to a groin injury.
Barney Corkhill
