Robson distracted

Newcastle United should have landed comfortably in the Netherlands yesterday - given their 5-0 lead from the first leg against NAC Breda - but Bobby Robson and the club's mood was different. Irritation was palpable - Craig Bellamy is injured.

Once again, Bellamy has returned from a trip with Wales suffering from a knee complaint. It is of sufficient concern for Bellamy not to have travelled with the rest of the squad yesterday and he must now be a doubt for Saturday's important local derby at Middlesbrough.

"Bellamy is not with us," said Robson. "He's injured, so we've left him behind. He's the only one. Frustrating is maybe the word, but I can also think of one or two others."

Bellamy played 90 minutes in Wales' 3-2 defeat in Cardiff by Serbia and Montenegro on Saturday night, but went back to Newcastle complaining about soreness in his right knee.

It is not the first time Bellamy has returned from a Wales game with an injury - he missed home matches against Manchester United, Partizan Belgrade and Birmingham City after Wales' qualifier in Serbia in August with a knee problem.

An emotional Bellamy thought his career might be in jeopardy and told Robson so.

But his recovery was swift and having missed those Newcastle games, the club then did their best to prevent Bellamy playing for Wales in Italy.

But Bellamy played 90 minutes again and would probably have played again for Wales five days later against Finland had he not collected a suspension.

That cooled a row that had reached the stage where a Newcastle director, Russell Cushing, had labelled remarks made by the Wales manager Mark Hughes as "disgraceful".

This latest incident is sure to reignite that friction, especially as Bellamy now has Wales' European Championship play-offs in his sights next month.

Newcastle, third bottom in the Premiership, have their own priorities and after tonight's fixture they travel to Boro and Fulham in four days. Robson will want Bellamy fit for both of those.

"We've got to look at that situation again very closely, which the club will do," Robson said. "It's his knee again and it was done in the game against Serbia.

"We will look at the medical bulletin, but he was sent for scans yesterday and we'll compare the results to the last lot he had when he came back from Serbia."

With Boro in mind and a five-goal lead - Bellamy got two in the home leg - Robson is set to have Alan Shearer, Gary Speed and Shay Given on the bench this evening. Shola Ameobi is expected to lead the attack with Kieron Dyer.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have agreed to release the Chilean midfielder Clarence Acuna from his contract to allow him to return home and look after his sick mother.

NEWCASTLE (probable): Harper; Hughes, O'Brien, Bramble, Bernard; Solano, Jenas, Viana, Robert; Amiobi, Dyer.