Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew will be without a trio of star players for their opening Europa League tie on Thursday though injury.

Cheick Tiote, Demba Ba and Fabricio Coloccini have all been left behind for the trip to Greece.

French playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa will also miss the match as he begins a European suspension dating back to his days playing for Marseille.

Pardew did reveal that he expects all three to be fit for the Premier League match away to Chelsea this weekend.

He said: "We have brought everybody who is fit, actually. The guys who have stayed behind are all injured, of which Demba Ba is one, Coloccini, Cheick Tiote, but I think they will be playing on Saturday.

"We have still got three or four younger players who we would like to have brought, but unfortunately, they are injured too, so the senior group is all here.

"The problem for us is just the scheduling, really. We play Chelsea on Saturday and the heat and the elements here are going to make it difficult for us, so we have tried to factor in all that."

Newcastle begin their Europa League adventure away to Greek side Atromitos on Thursday, August 23.