Lee Bowyer has handed Graeme Souness another fitness boost after coming through last night's impressive 5-1 reserve team win over Aston Villa unscathed.
Watched by Newcastle manager Souness, the midfielder played a full 90 minutes at Kingston Park, his first match since limping off with a knee injury during the first half of the Premiership game against Wigan Athletic on October 15.
And, although he had a quiet game - a sixth-minute booking and an early second-half chance apart - the run-out should hand Souness another midfield option when United travel to face champions Chelsea on Saturday.
Having struggled for bodies in the centre at the start of the campaign, Souness now has Bowyer, Emre, Scott Parker, Amdy Faye and Lee Clark - who picked up a dead leg last night - competing for one of two positions, with Kieron Dyer also expected to be available in the near future.
Bowyer's fitness will also be of interest to Villa manager David O'Leary, who is thought to be preparing a January bid for the troubled midfielder.
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Bowyer played the best football of his career under O'Leary at Leeds United and would be reunited with former team-mates Eirik Bakke and James Milner, albeit only temporarily in the case of the England Under-21 international, who is on loan at Villa Park from Newcastle until the end of the season.
With so many midfield options at their disposal and Souness thought to be in the market for a new striker this winter, United could perhaps be tempted by a bid from the Midlands. The 28-year-old has had a typically chequered career in the North-East and is still involved in a court case surrounding his on-field brawl with team-mate Kieron Dyer.
The case was adjourned for two months at Newcastle Magistrates' Court yesterday, meaning the embarrassing incident could potentially drag on longer than Bowyer's Magpies career.
Although the prospect of teaming up with his former manager might appeal to Bowyer, the midfielder rejected the chance to join Villa's city rivals Birmingham this summer after talks with Steve Bruce's outfit.
Birmingham co-owner David Sullivan later claimed the England international had snubbed a move because he feared a backlash from the city's Asian community.
Souness was in Switzerland on Saturday to watch a Turkey side without the suspended Emre lose 2-0 in the first leg of their World Cup play-off.
The United manager was reportedly watching strikers Nihat Kahveci of Real Sociedad and Fenerbahçe's Tuncay Sanli as he weighs up a possible January bid.
Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yildirim, though, has warned Newcastle off a move for the club's prize asset. "It is not on the board's agenda to sell Tuncay," he said.
Should he decide not to move for either of the Turkish pair, Souness is believed to be considering a bid for Tuncay's club-mate Nicolas Anelka, who scored on his return from a three-year international exile for France on Wednesday.
Newcastle made public their interest in Anelka this summer. But whereas United valued the player at around £4m, Fenerbahçe's asking price was a massive £13.85m.
It would take all of Anelka's famed disruptive powers to annoy the Turks enough for them to lower their valuation to a level the Magpies were prepared to meet.
