SAM Allardyce last night outlined his reasons for keeping Joey Barton on the sidelines this weekend, and stressed that the Newcastle midfielder would be placing himself at considerable risk if he were to play against Everton on Sunday.

Barton, who made his first competitive outing for the Magpies in Tuesday night's reserves game at Manchester City, had previously targeted the visit of the Toffees for his first-team debut.

The England international has been sidelined since breaking a metatarsal in July's pre-season friendly at Carlisle, but is back in full training following a successful spell of rehabilitation.

Allardyce was happy with his 45-minute run-out at Manchester's Regional Athletics Arena, but insists it is far too soon for the 25-year-old to be contemplating a first-team return.

Unlike his predecessor, Glenn Roeder, who once claimed Michael Owen was the best assessor of his own well-being, the current Magpies manager is adamant that his medical staff will have sole responsibility for setting a player's comeback date.

"There is no chance, absolutely no chance that Joey will be involved against Everton," confirmed Allardyce, who shelled out £5.8m to sign the midfielder in the summer.

"I know he wants to play, but he is a footballer, not a medical expert.

"We will make the decision when he plays, not him. That decision will be taken by medical experts in consultation with myself and the coaching staff.

"Joey is very enthusiastic about playing football and it was that sort of character which was one of the reasons we signed him.

"It has been very frustrating for him to have been unable to play when he has only just joined a new club, but we will not rush him back."

Barton's return will finally enable Allardyce to shake up a midfield trio that has grown increasingly stale in recent weeks.

While Geremi, Nicky Butt and Alan Smith boast obvious combative qualities, Newcastle were crying out for a more creative talent as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday.

Barton's box-to-box attacking style makes him a different proposition to any of the other midfielders currently at Allardyce's disposal, and the club's careful handling of his recovery is further proof of his perceived importance.

"The injury has taken a little longer than we thought to heal and, having waited patiently for so long, we'd be stupid to rush him back now just because he wants to play as quickly as possible," said the Newcastle boss. "There is a big difference between being fit enough to train and fit enough to play in the Premier League. "We're having to hold him back a little because he wants to get back into it, but it's for his own good. We are looking after his long-term interests.

"When you have been out for a long time and come back you are at a greater risk of picking up another injury elsewhere because the body isn't strong enough to cope.

"He is coming back slowly and he won't be involved with the first team until after the international break."

The same cannot be said of Claudio Cacapa, however, with the Brazilian centre-half expected to feature against an Everton side that barely broke sweat as they disposed of Middlesbrough last weekend.

Cacapa sustained a groin injury during last month's 3-1 win over West Ham but, having failed a fitness test ahead of last weekend's game in Manchester, the 31-year-old has spent this week in full training with the rest of the squad. "Claudio has a groin injury but he doesn't need a hernia operation," said Allardyce.

"We gave him a test on Saturday morning, but he wasn't ready. That, for me, was a big miss because he brings a huge amount of experience, as we've seen.

"The last time he played, we beat West Ham 3-1 and we didn't see that type of defending from anybody against Manchester City. However, he should be OK for Everton."