[Mighty T.A.L.]

Barton injury scare for Magpies

Newcastle United's summer signing Joey Barton could miss the start of the new Premier League season through injury.

The former Manchester City midfielder is understood to have fractured a metatarsal in Saturday's 1-1draw against Carlisle United.

Barton has undergone scans on the injury and could face up to seven weeks on the sidelines should the results come back positive.

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce opted to leave out the likes of Michael Owen and Shay Given for the contest and will now be anxiously awaiting Barton's results.

Allardyce is yet to name his club captain following Scott Parker's exit and Barton has emerged as a shock candidate to Owen and Given to win the job.

"His game is terrific," said Allardyce. "Joey is phenomenal in the ground he covers.

"He's going to drag the rest of the players up to his standard. I just want to see how he handles the responsibility.

"The captaincy may go to someone else, but he leads by example."

Source: Skysports