New boy Fabrice Pancrate could make his first Newcastle appearance against Swansea this weekend as manager Chris Hughton deals with a minor injury crisis.

The 29-year-old former Paris St Germain midfielder was an unused substitute at Preston on Monday evening, but could be handed a debut at some point this weekend with Ryan Taylor, Danny Simpson and Nicky Butt all nursing injuries.

Butt has already been ruled out of the game St St James' Park with a calf strain, while the club's medical staff are continuing to monitor Taylor and Simpson, who have calf and thigh problems respectively.

Hughton said: "Pancrate comes into the reckoning for Swansea. We have got Saturday's game coming up very quickly and a lot of

games in the next few weeks, so I'm certain he will be involved very soon.

"He's ready to play now because his all-round fitness was good when he arrived due to the pre-season training he had with Paris St Germain. He just needs more match practice, which he will get."