ANY hopes Newcastle United had of securing the services of Greek international Giorgious Seitaridis next month look doomed.

Panathinaikos' right back fractured his left leg after a crunching tackle with Proodeftiki star Giorgos Poulopoulos in their clash over the weekend.

The injury means that Seitaridis is now facing the prospect of missing a dream move to the Premiership when the transfer window opens in January.

Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson is keen to bring in a new right back and he is considering his options.

Seitaridis was watched by Robson this month when Panathinaikos were at Ibrox for a Champions League match with Rangers.

The Greek believe the 22-year-old will be out of action for just over a month. And that means Newcastle are unlikely to agree to pay the £2.5m valuation of the player, who has also caught the eye of a string of other top European club, including Barcelona.

It is the second blow to Robson's hopes of acquiring a full back after it emerged Tottenham's Stephen Carr has been offered a new contract to stay at White Hart Lane.

The Newcastle manager also has to reassess his team selection ahead of Saturday's trip to Charlton Athletic.

Jonathan Woodgate is out with a hamstring injury and both Titus Bramble and Andy Griffin are suspended.

There is every chance that wantaway Steve Caldwell will be recalled to the starting line-up against the Addicks as a partner for Andy O'Brien at the heart of the defence.

Another option would be to play Aaron Hughes in the middle, where he started his career, and draft winger Nolberto Solano into the side to play right back, where he appeared as a substitute against Liverpool ten days ago.

Meanwhile, Newcastle's Olivier Bernard has paid tribute to fellow Frenchman Laurent Robert after his sensational two-goal blast in the 4-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday.

Robert, whose goals could both be goal of the season contenders, actually played despite feeling under the weather.

Bernard said: "He wasn't feeling too good before the match, but if he plays like that when he is ill then maybe he should be ill every week.

"I didn't speak to him straight after the game but I know he was happy with his overall performance.

"He was also happy with the ovation he got from the fans and he thought it was funny when the crowd shouted 'shoot' every time he got the ball."

* Newcastle's UEFA Cup clash with Norwegian outfit Valerenga in February may have to be switched.

The Scandinavian club have warned that wintry conditions at that time of the year can be so bad the venue may have to change.

And Valerenga officials have not ruled out playing the match in another country - with England a possibility.

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