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Newcastle boss Chris Hughton is hopeful that both Peter Lovenkrands and Danny Guthrie will be available in Sunday's Premier League clash with Aston Villa at St James' Park. The pair missed the season's opener at Manchester United on Monday with groin and knee injuries respectively, and while the Dane did not train today and club medics are waiting to see if the former Liverpool midfielder suffers a reaction to the work he did, Hughton is keeping his fingers crossed. Summer signing Sol Campbell is still working his way towards match fitness, while Danny Simpson and Leon Best (both ankle), Steven Taylor (shoulder) and Dan Gosling (knee) remain on the sidelines. | |||||
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Aston Villa are set to hand a debut to midfielder Stephen Ireland . Ireland is in line to make his bow after his arrival in midweek from Manchester City as part of the deal which took James Milner in the opposite direction. Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald is set to make sweeping changes to the side that started last night's 1-1 Europa League draw against Rapid Vienna with central defender Richard Dunne returning after being suspended for the clash in Austria. Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, midfielder Stiliyan Petrov, full-back Luke Young and winger Ashley Young are also set to return. Striker John Carew should be fit after a knee injury but fellow forward Gabriel Agbonlahor (hamstring), midfielder Steve Sidwell (Achilles) and central defenders James Collins (calf) and Carlos Cuellar (hamstring) are under treatment. Rookie Austrian striker Andreas Weimann is out after suffering an ankle injury against Rapid - his former club. | |||||