Ben Arfa to miss the clash against Anzhi

Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa will be forced to miss Toons’ Europa League last-16 second leg against Anzhi, as he has suffered a setback to his hamstring injury during the game in Moscow.

Ben Arfa has just made his much-anticipated return after spending several months on the sidelines. However he suffered a dead leg after landing awkwardly on artificial pitch and has been trying to shake off the after-effects of his hamstring injury.

Arfa is set to undergo medical assessment to determine the seriousness of his injury. Newcastle boss Alan Pardew revealed: “The team news is pretty good and we are pretty much there apart from Hatem. He is not going to make the game and we are trying to finalise the injury before he goes into squad again and he will see a specialist today who is looking at the injury and we will probably have more news at my next press conference.“