Barton will have to wait for chance
JOEY Barton was today warned he can't expect to walk back into Chris Hughton's Newcastle United side.
Barton made his comeback from a six-month injury lay-off in a reserve fixture on Tuesday night, the midfielder playing 75 minutes at Hartlepool United.
And the 27-year-old said after the game that he felt he was ready to return to the first-team squad for Saturday's visit to Bristol City.
Barton will most likely travel with his team-mates to Ashton Gate, having been a non-playing member of the squad for last weekend's Tees-Tyne derby, but Hughton is unwilling to pitch him back in just yet.
And in any case, he feels the form of Kevin Nolan, Danny Guthrie and Alan Smith has been such for the Championship leaders that Barton's fitness won't be the only consideration.
"At the moment, Joey's had 75 minutes of a reserve game, and what we have at the moment is a lot of competition for places," Barton told the Gazette.
"I think he will (come back in), but he's only played one reserve game.
"We've got a lot of lads on the bench that are fully fit, and have been involved in recent games."
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Weather for South Shields
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
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Wind direction: South west
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