STEVEN TAYLOR will not be leaving Newcastle United on loan next month, despite comments from his agent suggesting he was poised to move elsewhere in search of first-team football.

Taylor has not made a senior appearance since his dismissal at Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season, and is due to appear for Newcastle's development squad against Norwich City today alongside fellow fringe players Jonas Gutierrez and Paul Dummett.

Despite having fully recovered from injury, Taylor finds himself fourth in Newcastle's central defensive pecking order behind Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, a situation that has led his agent, Willie McKay, to suggest it would be desirable for him to move on loan in January.

The 27-year-old has been linked with a possible move to Championship promotion hopefuls QPR, but Alan Pardew has conclusively ruled out any prospect of him leaving St James' Park.

“I think Steven is a terrific player,” said the Magpies manager. “He is fit, but he lost his place through injury, which was unfortunate.

“He is fit now and wants to play, but Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa wants to play, Hatem Ben Arfa wants to play, and Papiss Cisse wants to play too. Am I going to loan them all because they want a game? Of course not. They have to fight for their place, and that's where Steven is.”

Taylor was briefly transfer listed when he last found himself out in the cold in 2010, but after winning back a place in the first team, he was rewarded with a five-and-a-half year contract extension that is not due to expire until 2016.

Senior Newcastle officials were baffled by another of McKay's claims this week that a new deal is in the offing as there are no plans to enter into new discussions with the centre-half.

However, there is also no desire to move him on, with Pardew expecting Taylor to play a part over the busy Christmas period, which will see Newcastle play four league games and an FA Cup third-round tie with Cardiff City in the space of two weeks.

“I had a very sensible conversation with Steven this week,” said Pardew. “I think he knows where I stand with it all. I've said to him that we have a lot of games coming up.

“Sometimes, as a manager, when you have three games in a month, it is difficult to look a player in the eye and tell them there is a lot of hope. But I genuinely think I can say to him, 'Let's see how we get on this week because we have three games'.”

Nevertheless, the fact Taylor is involved in today's development game suggests he will not be in the squad for tomorrow's Premier League match at Crystal Palace, and it remains to be seen how the former England hopeful deals with his newly diminished status.

Williamson's superb recent form has seriously affected Taylor's first-team chances, with Pardew currently regarding Yanga-Mbiwa as his preferred replacement if anything happens to Newcastle's first-choice centre-halves.

Yanga-Mbiwa was one of five players to arrive during last January's transfer window as the Magpies hierarchy funded a major recruitment drive to head off the threat of relegation.

Things are very different this time around, and there is every chance that Newcastle will not be making any signings next month despite having only recruited Loic Remy on loan during the summer.

They have been heavily linked with Manchester United youngster Wilfried Zaha, and Old Trafford officials are understood to have contacted their counterparts on Tyneside to discuss a possible loan move.

However, while Mike Ashley was willing to sanction a loan move for Remy because it paved the way for a possible permanent deal at the end of the temporary arrangement, any move for Zaha would only run until the end of the season.

Therefore, it is not something that is of interest to Ashley, who will continue to dictate transfer policy alongside controversial director of football, Joe Kinnear.

“He's (Zaha) a Manchester United player as far as I am aware,” said Pardew. “But he's a player I know very well from his time at Crystal Palace. He was absolutely phenomenal when they got promoted last season.

“He made the big move to Man United, and his career has maybe stalled a little bit. That's something players have to go through, but I know he's doing well at Man United in the background, and maybe he will get an opportunity there.”

Newcastle have no new injury problems to report ahead of tomorrow's trip to Selhurst Park, and are able to welcome Yohan Cabaye back into the side after a one-match ban.