Ben Arfa loss a blow to Newcastle boss Hughton

Newcastle United coach Chris Hughton will be without Hatem Ben Arfa for much of the rest of the season after the Frenchman broke his leg in a challenge with Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong.

Ben Arfa, impressive for the Premier League new boys since his arrival on loan from Marseille, suffered the injury after just four minutes of United’s 2-1 Premier League defeat by City at Eastlands here on Sunday.

A statement issued several hours after the final whistle by Newcastle said the 23-year-old had broken the tibia and fibula bones in his left leg and was now set for an operation.

“He will undergo surgery tomorrow (Monday) morning,” read the statement.

“Everyone connected with the club sends Hatem their best wishes for a speedy recovery. At this stage, no time limit has been put on his expected return date.”

Hughton was livid with the performance of match referee Martin Atkinson, who awarded City a dubious penalty and failed to award one to Newcastle late in the game.

While the Magpies manager chose his words carefully about de Jong, there was no doubt he was also unhappy about that incident.

“I thought it was a challenge that didn’t need to be made,” he said.

“Everybody will have their own opinions, I’m quite sure. It’s been shown (on television) enough times.

“I probably don’t want to go into whether it was a foul. The best thing I can say was it was a challenge that didn’t need to be made.

“The referee has made two horrendous decisions. My first impressions were Mike Williamson (who gave away the penalty for a foul on Carlos Tevez that allowed the Argentina striker to score from the spot) had played the ball and also it was outside the box. They were confirmed when I saw it on TV.

“Then my first impression when (Newcastle striker) Shola Ameobi went down was that his standing foot had been taken away from him and that was confirmed as well.”

The injury to Ben Arfa, after what Atkinson deemed to have been a fair challenge, came on a weekend in which there were a number of contentious fouls in the Premier League, although former Tottenham full-back Hughton was not keen to add his voice to the controversy.

“On a day like today, I don’t want to speak about challenges,” he insisted.

“The over-riding feeling for me is that I have got a team I am very proud of, that went about their business the right way and, unjustly, came out of it with a result they didn’t deserve.

“As the away team coming to somewhere like here, with the quality they have got, I couldn’t fault any of my players for the commitment they showed.

“I thought we got the game plan right and at 1-1 I felt we were going to get the draw we deserved.”

After Tevez’s opener, Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez equalised with a well-struck shot but City won the game thanks to England winger Adam Johnson, who claimed the final goal three minutes after coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute.

Victory saw City, who in their previous league match had beaten Chelsea, move into second place in the table, just four points behind the leaders and a point above local rivals Manchester United.

City assistant manager Brian Kidd stood in for coach Roberto Mancini at a post-match press conference after the club’s boss had flown home to be with his ailing father.

“You’ve got to give credit to the boss,” said Kidd, once Sir Alex Ferguson’s deputy at Manchester United.

“He wasn’t prepared for a draw, he wanted a win and the second-half tactics proved that. The ethics the boss has are it’s not about individuals, it’s about the squad, the team.

“Adam did well against Juventus in the week (in the Europa League) and again he came up with that little big of magic he’s always capable of.”

Kidd also defended de Jong by saying: “It’s so sad when that happens but I don’t think it was a rash challenge.

“There was no malice in it, definitely not. Nigel’s not that type of lad. There is no malice in Nigel de Jong.”