KEVIN Gallacher has shaken off a mystery virus and hopes to help Newcastle finally end their capital jinx this weekend.

Newcastle go to Charlton on Sunday without a win in 23 games in London, but the experienced Scottish striker insisted: "Hoodoos can be broken.

"I had my own jinxes before I came here. I'd never beaten Manchester United in my career before I arrived at Newcastle and there was one stage at Blackburn when we were unbeaten in London.

"A lot of it can be in the mind. The whole hoodoo thing has been mentioned a few times but hopefully we can put it to rest."

Gallacher, sidelined when the Geordies lost at Chelsea last week, is eager to make an impact before the likely return of strike duo Alan Shearer and Carl Cort .

"With Alan and Carl coming back the squad is getting strong again," he said. "But I'd like to get a few games."

The Scot's contract is up in the summer and it could be that he will move on. But Gallacher isn't thinking about that.

Instead he's just glad to be back in the frame after being hit by virus trouble on top of an earlier hamstring injury.

"I don't know what it was. It looked a bit like tonsilitis, I came out in a rash and it knocked me back for a few days," he said.

"But the tests showed nothing wrong and I've been back in training for a week."

Alain Goma meanwhile has been called up by France for the friendly against Germany on February 27.

But the Newcastle defender will only be considered for selection if he proves his fitness against Manchester City three days earlier.

Goma is currently sidelined with a broken arm, although Newcastle hope he will be able to play with a protective cast.

l Argentinian defender Pablo Paz has kept alive his hopes of a move to Newcastle by telling Everton that he's not prepared to have a trial spell on Merseyside.

Paz doesn't want to leave his club Tenerife unless it's a permanent deal.

That means the Geordies could still nab him in the summer if they sell Goma and Spanish stopper Marcelino.

Paz, 27, had a spell on Tyneside but Newcastle boss Bobby Robson is not in the market for a central defender.

An insider said: "Pablo doesn't want to go away for another training week. If Everton want him they have to make an offer. But he's happy at Tenerife."

l Chairman Freddie Shepherd has vowed that Newcastle won't be left behind by Manchester United in the chase to corner the global market.

The Reds' ground-breaking partnership with baseball giants New York Yankees has left the rest of the Premiership fearing that the champions will now become even harder to catch.

Shepherd revealed that the Geordies plan to reopen talks with Melbourne Carlton in a bid to buy the Aussie club.