Newcastle United Goalkeeper Tim Krul Ruled Out for Three Games

Newcastle United's hopes of achieving a top eight finish have been damaged by the news that goalkeeper Tim Krul will miss the next three games including the visit of Southampton this weekend after picking up a knee injury in the defeat to Everton.

Krul's hopes of featuring in the Netherlands squad for this summer's World Cup are hanging by a thread after being ruled out until mid-April, forcing him to miss the games against the Saints as well as the matches against Manchester United and Stoke City.

The 25 year old had been an ever-present in the Premier League for Newcastle this season, keeping nine clean sheets in 31 games as the Toon hunt down finishing in the top eight, hopes which have been dented by the loss of Krul.

"Tim won't play [against Southampton], he's out for these next two or three games for sure, so Rob Elliot will come in," Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said.

"He has made his international squad and he is keen to stay in that squad and he needs to play, so the opportunity lands at his feet. Rob is a confident goalie and he will look to take that on."

The Dutchman adds to a six-man injury list at Newcastle which currently includes long-term absentees Gabriel Obertan and Ryan Taylor but could be eased in the coming weeks with Davide Santon, Loic Remy and Mathieu Debuchy all on the comeback trail.

Santon hasn't featured since February's loss to Tottenham Hotspur while both top scorer Remy and full back Debuchy have been out since the win over Hull City in early March with respective calf and groin problems.

But Pardew, who has a four-match touchline ban to serve after headbutting Hull's David Meyler following his three-game stadium ban, added: "Davide Santon is back in training, and that's good news for us. That's probably our full complement.

"We think Remy will train on Monday, which means that he's going to train over the weekend, so he's got a good chance for Manchester United.

"Mathieu, we think will be a bit longer than that - maybe another couple of weeks."