ALBERT Luque returns to the Newcastle United side for this evening's UEFA Cup group stage tie against Celta Vigo with manager Glenn Roeder insisting he has 'not given up' on his out-of-sorts striker.

Luque has endured a miserable time since his £9.5m transfer from Deportivo La Coruna last season. He has made 11 first-team starts, netting three times, in 15 months and failed to rediscover the form which saw him earn 11 full international caps for Spain. It is widely acknowledged that Newcastle have been trying to off-load their misfiring striker since the summer.

Luque was linked with a return to his Spanish homeland last weekend. And only yesterday Real Betis were the latest club believed to be chasing the United misfit after the La Liga outfit lost left-sided player David Odonkor, the 22-year-old German international who broke his kneecap in his country's draw with Cyprus last week.

The former Deportivo striker returned to the Magpies starting XI for the UEFA Cup clash with Serie A leaders Palermo last month and netted the only goal of the game to give the travelling Tynesiders an unlikely victory on Italian soil. It was unquestionably the Catalan's finest United performance since he moved to St James' Park, and many felt it would eventually kick-start his career.

But following United's unexpected, yet deserved, victory over Palermo, Luque has not appeared in Roeder's first-team squad, with the exception of a brief cameo in the club's home defeat to Sheffield United two days later.

The Spaniard has been handed another opportunity to showcase his hidden talents this evening as Newcastle are robbed of several key personnel through injury.

Roeder is hoping Luque will relish tonight's clash as it pits him against his fellow countrymen and his former club's fiercest rivals in La Liga. Celta defeated his old team 1-0 in the Galician derby on Sunday.

A good performance tonight will put Luque in the Spanish shop window or kick-start his spluttering career on Tyneside.

"Over the last few weeks he (Luque) has been working really hard in training," said Roeder, who defends his ten-match unbeaten UEFA Cup and Carling Cup run tonight.

"You can interview him in English now. He understands. It's helped him integrate into the squad even more. Consequently we're starting to see things you'd want to see from a player in training.

"Albert is a man who's very easy to sit and talk with. If we turn it around and, rather than say I must be frustrated with him, he must be frustrated himself.

"I haven't found him a bad pro to work with. If you look at what he achieved in Spain and what he hasn't done here, he must be frustrated. But he's certainly working much better in training. He's playing against a Spanish team, his local rivals, a team he would love playing against.

"You're always look for edges, something that might just haul a performance out. This one might get his juices flowing. It could be the one performance that could see everything fall into place for him.

"I will never give up on working with any player.

"Maybe he'll put in the performance that this club needs."

Nolberto Solano also backed Luque to prove his doubters wrong. The Peruvian says he empathises with the difficulties facing a foreign player in the Premiership and his team-mate's situation.

He said: "It's hard. You ask Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, you ask any foreign player. It's very different. Not the quality, but the pace and the physical aspect.

"Everyone needs time to adapt. For him, the situation has been difficult, but believe me, he would love to do well at this club.

"He's got a great spirit. He tries to smile every morning. He's used to playing every week in Spain, scoring goals. He was in the Spanish (international) squad, a player at that level will always feel frustrated if he's not involved every week.

"Part of his life has felt very low but he will have another opportunity to show the manager that he can be a successful for us."

With Stephen Carr and Celestine Babayaro injured, Paul Huntington is in line for his first-team debut tonight at full back in one of the youngest Newcastle back fours ever.

Stephen Taylor and Titus Bramble will feature in the heart of the defence and Peter Ramage will continue at left back.

Craig Moore's hamstring injury looks set to rule him out for the next four to six weeks. Damien Duff, another injured at Arsenal on Saturday, also misses out. The Republic of Ireland international is set to see a specialist in London tomorrow to discover the full extent of his knee injury.

Stephen Harper will be on the bench this evening and will have a fast-track operation on his groin next week in the same German hospital which operated on Alan Shearer, who returned to action after two weeks