Late decision on Owen

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce will assess Michael Owen’s fitness before naming his starting line-up for the visit of Wigan to St James’ Park.

The 27-year-old came through 83 minutes of Wednesday night’s Carling Cup victory over Barnsley, in which he scored, with no ill-effects, but with four strikers at his disposal, Allardyce faces a tough decision.

Midfielder Emre, who picked up a slight knock on his return from a groin problem, is a doubt, while Peter Ramage (knee), Stephen Carr and Celestine Babayaro (both hamstring), Joey Barton (metatarsal) and Damien Duff (ankle) are all out.

Provisional squad: Given, Harper, Solano, Enrique, N’Zogbia, Rozehnal, Taylor, Cacapa, Edgar, Huntington, Milner, Geremi, Butt, Smith, Emre, Pattison, Viduka, Martins, Ameobi, Owen.