KIERON Dyer will make his latest comeback from injury this evening, with Newcastle boss Graeme Souness admitting he can do no more to address the midfielder's long-standing hamstring trouble.
Dyer will be on the bench as the Magpies travel to League Two side Grimsby in the third round of the Carling Cup, with Souness hoping to introduce him shortly after the hour mark if things are going to plan.
When it comes to Dyer though, an England international who has made just 147 Premiership starts in his six-and-a-half years on Tyneside, things rarely go to plan.
"Kieron's back in the squad and, ideally, we would be looking to get him on for the last half-an-hour," revealed Souness, who can also call upon the services of both Titus Bramble and Celestine Babayaro at Blundell Park.
"We have to be guided by Kieron in all of this - he's the best judge. We've done it by the book in terms of the amount of time he's had out and the training that he's done.
"He's sought other opinions on his injury - he's been to see Hans-Muller Wolfhart and a specialist in Nottingham - and we've done everything we feel we can do with him.
"Now, it's very much up to him. He has to be the one who decides when he's ready and he said to me that, if he can, he'd like to have half-an-hour at Grimsby."
Dyer's last half-an-hour came against Manchester United. The midfielder had been confident of shaking off the hamstring injury he sustained on the opening day of the season, only to break down again as Newcastle crashed to a 2-0 defeat.
Sadly, the sight of the 26-year-old hobbling from the field with dejection etched on his face was nothing new.
Dyer also limped out of April's UEFA Cup quarter-final defeat at Sporting Lisbon - an injury that ultimately cost Newcastle their place in the competition - having previously missed more than two months of last season with a hamstring complaint.
The former Ipswich playmaker has undergone a series of tests and scans since then, with both his back and his nervous system coming under the microscope as United's medical staff attempted to get to the root of the problem.
Having been given the all-clear, there seems to be nowhere else to go should Dyer break down again.
"We feel that we've got to the bottom of it," said Souness. "We've got involved with his back and nerves and tried to do different exercises and manipulation.
"He's been miserable, which I would fully expect. But we need him. If you go back to last season, we were flying in the league and in Europe and he was crucial to that.
"Look at the quarter-final in Lisbon. He was on fire and tearing them apart. Then he got injured and our chances of getting through that game disappeared with him.
"He's done all the training we wanted him to do but, with hamstrings, you just never know.
They deceive you. You can train and train and train, play in a practice match, and be sure that you're ready.
"Then you get into a match and it goes."
Bramble's time on Tyneside has been similarly injury-plagued. The imposing centre-half has made just two starts this season after missing more than four months of the previous campaign.
He is also back to full fitness, though, with Souness even hinting he could start tonight in place of either Jean-Alain Boumsong or Steven Taylor.
"Titus is in a position where he could play 90 minutes," said the Magpies manager. "He has been great for me. I know that, in the past, he's allowed his concentration to slip but I think he's sorted that out. In my time here, I've never had a problem with him."
With Nolberto Solano also certain to start as he continues to recover from a thigh problem, Souness will be fielding a strong side as Newcastle look to improve on a dreadful recent record in the Carling Cup.
The Scot is determined to treat the competition seriously, although he could well opt to rest skipper Alan Shearer and hand a rare start to fourth-choice frontman Michael Chopra.
Shearer is nursing a hernia injury and, while surgery is almost inevitable, the United skipper is hoping to put off an operation until next month's two-week international break.
"No-one knows how long he's going to be able to last," said Souness.
"He could get to the end of the season without needing an operation or it could become so painful that he needs surgery next week.
"We have the international break coming up in November, and that is two weeks, so there is a window there which would be a possibility.
"Given his track record, and given the way he plays football, I would imagine he would be out for about three weeks."
Newcastle's last visit to Blundell Park came in 1993, with goals from Andy Cole and David Kelly clinching promotion to the Premiership.
Lee Clark played in that match but, while the Magpies have gone on to establish themselves in their upper echelon of the English game, Grimsby have tumbled into the Football League's bottom tier.
Nevertheless, their 1-0 win over Tottenham in the last round will ensure Newcastle are taking nothing for granted.
"The history of cup competition is littered with small teams beating so-called big teams," warned Souness. "Grimsby will really fancy themselves against us and we need to be up for the challenge."
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