Peacock held back

Darren Peacock, Newcastle's player of the year, has had his return to the first-team squad put on hold.

The centre-half has fully recovered from two summer groin operations which kept him out of the club's pre-season preparations as well as their early season matches. But he had to put off a possible return on Wednesday night for the reserves at Doncaster because of a troublesome knee.

The 29-year-old is not unduly worried by his latest setback and expects to be back in action next week, when the reserves travel to Scarborough.

Peacock said: "It is frustrating rather than particularly worrying." An operation on his right knee a week after the end of last season - "to fix wear and tear" - is now causing him some discomfort. "We feel it is better to see the specialist and have it checked over," he added.