INJURY-jinxed Newcastle United duo Kieron Dyer and Carl Cort are going neck-and-neck in their race to return to fitness.

Neither player has figured this season, but United are quietly confident that both could be back in action by the end of next month.

That would put Dyer, who has been sidelined for the past eight months, on course to face former club Ipswich Town in the fourth round of the Worthington Cup at St. James' Park on Tuesday, November 27.

But both he and fellow long-term injury victim Cort are understood to have a realistic chance of being available for the home game against Derby County three days earlier.

Midfielder Dyer underwent two operations last season after it was discovered he had been playing with a stress fracture of the shin.

The England starlet then suffered a setback in his recovery, as did striker Cort, who stumbled in a behind-closed-doors game against Hartlepool United on the eve of the season and damaged his knee.

Cort, a £7m signing from Wimbledon in the summer of last year, missed much of his first season on Tyneside after undergoing surgery for a hamstring problem.

He was then told he would miss the start of the current campaign after picking up an ankle ligament injury in a friendly at Exeter at the end of last term.

Rumours that £20m-rated Dyer is destined to leave Newcastle have continued to abound while he has been out of action.

Leeds United manager David O'Leary is a big admirer of the 22-year-old schemer, who joined Newcastle from Ipswich two years ago in a £6m Ruud Gullit deal.

And champions Manchester United were firmly rebuffed when they made discreet enquiries about Dyer last season.

Now, with Dyer nearing a comeback, Newcastle boss Bobby Robson will be looking to redouble efforts to tie him to a new five-year contract - but only once he has banished lingering doubts about his long-term fitness.

Robson's attempts to beat rivals Sunderland in the chase for £10m-rated West Ham winger Trevor Sinclair, appear to have reached an impasse.

Hammers boss Glenn Roeder is understood to be cool on the suggestion that Robson is ready to trade Peruvian Nolberto Solano for Sinclair in a straight swap deal.

Roeder is keen on unhappy Newcastle veteran Robert Lee - a Hammers fan as a boy - but isn't willing to pay a fee for the 35-year-old midfielder, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

However, Roeder would be interested if Newcastle sacrificed Welsh international Gary Speed as a makeweight in a deal for Sinclair.

Meanwhile, Robson has been re-alerted to Feyenoord midfielder Brett Emerton after the Australian international revealed his desire to play in the Premiership.

Emerton was also a target for Middlesbrough last season.

*Disillusioned midfielder Jamie McClen has told Newcastle he wants a permanent move.

The 22-year-old Geordie, who has started only one game under Bobby Robson in over two years, said: "I don't even want to go out on loan.''