Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew believes his Nigerian striker, Shola Ameobi is highly underrated despite his "great qualities."
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Pardew was speaking ahead of the club's Uefa Europa League second leg [which they won already], round of 16 clash against Russian side, Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday.
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"Ameobi is a highly underrated player. His importance to us is immense. He's a very fabulous player and person; with great qualities and we are very pleased to have him," Pardew said.
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Ameobi has not trained this week as a result of an injury and is a big doubt for the game.
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Pardew is however hoping that the forward passes a late fitness test, which will put him in the frame to face the Eastern Europeans.
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"He hasn't trained in the last three or four days but we will be subjecting him to a late fitness test on Thursday. I think he has a good chance of scaling that one," he said.
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Ameobi has scored three goals in 18 appearances for Newcastle United this season.
Shola Ameobi is doing Nigeria proud in that team. The coach knows his worth in the team. He has to continously improve to better his chance