The waiting game

So, It seems as though we might well have to wait another week to see Nobby Solano return to action in the black and white stripes. He's said he wants to make sure he's 100% fit before making an appearance - and given the Man Utd match, when Dyer and Emre were both rushed back from injury and both broke down and had to be replaced in the first half, that makes a lot of sense.

I was dreaming about a midfield of Solano, Parker, Bowyer and N'Zogbia for the visit of Man City on Saturday, though. Shame - looks like we'll have to make do with Faye once more. Hardly the sort of player to strike fear into the heart of Joey Barton, I imagine.

On a brighter note, Parker's return to the side is all but guaranteed (unlike the rest of our first choice midfield, he was merely suspended rather than injured), and Owen will have got another week of training under his belt. Time to open his St James's Park account? Actually, Shearer's rather fond of Saturday's opposition - before the strike against Blackburn on Sunday, his last Premiership goal had come away to City in February, and a couple of seasons back he scored in all of ten seconds against them at home.