Newcastle Taylor could be back to action in several weeks

Newcastle defender Ryan Taylor is closing in on a return to first-team action after spending eighth months on the sidelines through a knee injury.

The 28-year-old player has suffered an injury in Newcastle clash against Atromitos in August and has not featured in the first XI ever since.

Taylor will fly with the teammates to Lisbon for Europa League quarter-finals to take part in the training sessions as part of his recovery program and watch the game. He said: “I’m going to go to Benfica and do a bit of training out there and watch the game. I won’t be ready for it, but I’ll be out there with the lads. Hopefully, we’ll go through. I might be available for the semis if we get through, who knows?”

“It’s only been seven or eight months. It’s not that long when you think about it, but in footballing terms it’s a full season. It would be nice to put that in the past and concentrate on these last few weeks. I’m just looking to get back before the end of the season. Atromitos was the last full game I played. It’s quite astonishing, really. It does seem a long time ago,” he added.