Joey Barton unlikely to play for a while yet

It is highly unlikely that Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton will play for Newcastle United seeing that he is still awaiting a hearing with the English FA regarding an incident last season when he assaulted former team mate Ousmane Dabo when they were both playing for Manchester City.

With the hearing having been set for 5 September the twenty five year old midfielder cannot be expected to be picked by Kevin Keegan, just yet any way!

Even though he may become available after the hearing it could be a lack of fitness that could stand in his way after his nearly three months in prison for another assault offence.

Worse may still be to come as the FA could quite easily slap a lengthy ban on him given his previous track record both on and off the field.

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