Ben Arfa ruled out of Newcastle's clash with Anzhi

Mar 13, 2013 9:20:00 PM

The Magpies face the big-spending Russians in the second leg of their Europa League last 16 tie with the scoreline poised at 0-0, but will have to make do without the winger

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has ruled Hatem Ben Arfa out of the Magpies' Europa League last 16 second-leg clash with Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday.

Ben Arfa made his return from four months out with a hamstring injury in the first leg between the sides in Moscow, but was left out for Sunday's Premier League meeting with Stoke.

Despite Ben Arfa's absence, Pardew believes his side have enough quality to overcome the Russian outfit, despite not having the safety net of an away goal.

"We are pretty much all there apart from Hatem, who's not going to make this game," Pardew told reporters.

"We're trying to finalise exactly his hamstring injury before we put him back into the fore again. He had a little setback so we're just getting our specialist to look at it today.

"Only he can answer that but as the manager, my reading of him is that he's in a good place at the moment.

"He knows that this injury that he's sustained is an injury that we have to be very, very careful of because more important to us is his welfare going forward so we're not going to take any risks.

"He had a slight little strain in there and we're just checking that strain is no more than that. I think that will be the diagnosis and therefore there is a chance he could be involved as early as Wigan.

"And if I'm honest, this game in particular him missing it isn't going to make a great impact because I think the team's in a good place and I think we can beat them without him, no problem."

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