Slimani plays football!

ISLAM Slimani’s chances of making his Newcastle United debut on Saturday have been boosted after he played 25 minutes for his country Algeria last night.

Slimani came off the bench with his side trailing 2-1 to Iran but was unable to help get them back into the game as they lost by that scoreline. He did collect a yellow card within five minutes of coming on.

Reports from the match suggest that the 29-year-old (inset) lacked movement and fitness during his cameo appearance. Slimani last played a competitive game of football on New Year’s Day when he scored in Leicester City’s 2-1 win over Tottenham.

Slimani joined the Magpies on loan from Leicester on January 31 but is still yet to make his debut for the Magpies. He arrived at the club with a thigh injury and after a suffering a setback, is still yet to appear for Rafa Benitez’s side. Yesterday’s international friendly was played in Austria and Slimani is due back on Tyneside today where he will be assessed by the club’s medical staff ahead of Saturday’s crunch Premier League home tie with Huddersfield. Having left him out of the friendly against Royal Antwerp recently, Benitez warned the striker: “He has confidence in himself, which is positive, but he has to show us this in the training sessions and with his country, then we will see what happens against Huddersfield.”