There is light at the end of the tunnel for the V-bomber as he is back in training with the Magpies.

However, Keegan will not throw him stright back into the fray with fellow forward Michael Owen also likely to miss this weekend's clash with Wanderers.

Keegan told the Evening Chronicle: "Michael probably won’t be fit, and Mark Viduka certainly won’t be.

“I probably could rush Michael back, and then knock him back five or six weeks.

“And we’re probably strong enough to do without the two of them. But when they come back, it’ll give us a massive boost."