GRAEME Souness last night insisted that Portsmouth's Amdy Faye would not be a "panic buy", despite admitting that Newcastle would be taking on champions Arsenal tomorrow with an unbalanced midfield.

The United boss confirmed that chairman Freddy Shepherd had opened talks with Portsmouth's Milan Mandaric, and also accepted that the hamstrung Nicky Butt faces at least two months on the sidelines after his latest injury setback.

But Souness stressed that the two events were unconnected, despite Newcastle's evident lack of a defensive midfielder already having cost the club a host of Premiership points this season.

Jermaine Jenas will again be asked to fill the role at Highbury but, while the England international has reined in his attacking instincts this season, he would be the first to admit he lacks the defensive nous of a Roy Keane or a Patrick Vieira.

After missing almost two months with a hamstring problem, Butt was expected to be back in the frame this weekend.

The fact that he isn't leaves Souness with a major problem, but the Scot has poured scorn on the suggestion that Faye could be a short-term solution to be cast aside when Butt finally returns.

"This is not a gut reaction," said Souness, who is also discussing a possible move for Faye's Portsmouth's colleague, Aiyegbeni Yakubu.

"It's not something we've started to think about in the last few days - this has been a long-term plan.

"Amdy is a much-admired player within this profession because, in that position, it's easy to be overlooked.

"But anyone who does my job will tell you how important it is to have someone who does his job properly.

"We've got great midfield players at this club - exciting midfield players - but the blend is not quite right and that's something we need to address."

Ironically, one of United's most disciplined midfield displays this season came when Arsenal travelled to Tyneside three weeks ago.

Vieira's deflected strike gave the Gunners a 1-0 win, but Newcastle pushed Arsene Wenger's side to the limit, despite missing the likes of Alan Shearer and Patrick Kluivert.

Their strike force will be back to full strength tomorrow, and the addition of Jean-Alain Boumsong has strengthened a notoriously fragile defence.

But Souness is under no illusions about the difficulty of the task in hand. Arsenal lost 1-0 at Bolton last weekend - a defeat that leaves them ten points behind Premiership pace-setters Chelsea - and the Newcastle boss is expecting to feel the backlash tomorrow.

"Arsenal are still one of the best footballing sides in the world," said Souness, who enjoyed a rare double over the Gunners while managing Blackburn in the 2002-03 season. "I don't think we could have a harder test.

"We've got to go Highbury and we'll be playing against big players with big egos, whose egos were damaged last week.

"We're going to play a team who still have aspirations of winning the title. They think they can still win the championship and you'd be a fool to think otherwise. Chelsea would be foolish to write them off and so would anyone else.

"You can't write big players off. Big players don't like criticism - they're not used to having that horrible feeling on a Sunday morning after they've been stuffed the day before.

"The determination not to have that feeling on a regular basis is one of the things that makes you a big player."

Souness' selection plans were thrown into disarray yesterday when Celestine Babayaro picked up a knee injury that is almost certain to keep him out of tomorrow's game.

His place will be taken by either Aaron Hughes or Olivier Bernard, with Babayaro joining Stephen Carr and Robbie Elliott on United's list of injured full-backs.

Carr, whose last appearance came in November's 3-1 defeat to Manchester United, resumed training yesterday and United's medical staff will monitor the reaction of his knee at the start of next week before deciding on their next step.

Titus Bramble will continue to partner Boumsong at the heart of defence, and the former Ipswich defender will return to the scene of one of his biggest howlers when he walks on to the pitch at Highbury.

Newcastle were more than holding their own last season before Bramble's air-kick allowed Thierry Henry to score the opener in Arsenal's 3-2 win.

The error added to Bramble's reputation as an accident waiting to happen, and even Souness has spoken of the defender's need to improve his concentration if he is to fulfil his obvious potential.

Boumsong's arrival was expected to challenge Bramble's place in the team but, instead, the 23-year-old all but carried Newcastle's £8m man in last weekend's win.

"We're left scratching our heads sometimes when we see the amount of criticism that Titus gets," admitted Hughes, who has been one of the players squeezed out by Souness' faith in Bramble.

"It seems to come at him from all angles. But we see him in training everyday, as well as in games, and he is an excellent defender.

"I think he has been treated extremely badly at times. But he just gets his head down and gets on with his job."

Hughes was Bramble's central defensive partner in last month's defeat to Arsenal, but recent reinforcements have forced him on to the bench in the last two games.

The Northern Ireland international is one of the longest-serving players at St James' Park and, while he accepts that his chances could be limited in the second half of the season, his ability to slot into any position in the back four makes him a valuable squad member.

"I've heard a few things about me leaving," admitted Hughes. "But the manager has told us he doesn't want to sell anyone during the transfer window.

"That has been helpful because it means everybody can get their head down and concentrate on playing for Newcastle United.

"I don't know what is going to happen in the summer. There is going to be a lot of speculation flying around because of the players we've signed and the ones we've been linked with."

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