Best starts as Magpies leave Ben Arfa on bench

Hatem Ben Arfa had to make do with a substitute role despite his FA Cup heroics as Newcastle looked to climb back into the Barclays Premier League’s top six.

The Frenchman, scorer of a fine goal against Blackburn last weekend, made way along with fellow midfielders Mehdi Abeid and Gabriel Obertan as Danny Guthrie returned to the starting line-up after a seven-game injury lay-off and was joined by Ryan Taylor and Shola Ameobi.