Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has revealed Hatem Ben Arfa faces a battle to return to first-team action before May as he bids to recover from his double leg break.

• Ireland ready to go

Ben Arfa, whose loan from Marseille was made permanent in January, has not featured for Newcastle since sustaining the injury in the 2-1 defeat at Manchester City in October, but Pardew said in February that he was "a good month away". He added that the player had "every chance of playing ...

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