Alan Oliver at The Evening Chronicle
Shola ameobi has given himself a 50-50 chance of returning to the Newcastle United team against Fulham on Saturday.
And that after Glenn Roeder admitted today that at the start of the week Ameobi had "no chance" as he continues to struggle with his long-standing hip injury.
The 24-year-old striker has already surprised Roeder twice in the InterToto Cup and UEFA Cup this season when he played after being written off by the manager.
And Roeder challenged his striker today by saying: "If Shola Ameobi manages to climb off the treatment table on Saturday he will be making a heck of a statement as to how much he wants to play for Newcastle United.
"He is desperate to get back into the team and form a partnership with Oba Martins and this is something he is looking forward to.
"Whether this happens on Saturday I don't know, but what I do know is that at the start of the week he had absolutely no chance."
To be fair to Ameobi, he is now a key United player following the retirement of Alan Shearer and the fact that Michael Owen will not play this season, and he has already shown that he is thriving on the responsibility.
He has three goals in as many competitive starts and Roeder added: "His scoring record of 26 strikes from 85 starts in the Premiership is not bad at all.
"And Oba Martins is looking at Shola and hoping he is back in action soon because he is the sort of physical player he knows that he thrives on."
Source Alan Oliver at The Evening Chronicle